The Root of Darkness
by Amorphis760
Summary: I was nothing special before I died the first time but when something offers me the chance to live again I take it. Reborn into a world of death I will survive. There will be no mercy and no pity. For there are monsters that roam this world and to survive I might have to become one myself. Elements of the Gamer and X-overs in later chapters.
1. Game Start

**3/17/17 I've gained a minion who has agreed to proofread my story, the poor fool, so there might be some changes depending on how much they are willing to work for no wage. Thanks Momter for editing this.**

 **I think you could use part of the chapter as a prologue of sorts. I've marked where I think the cut would be SO MAKE SURE YOU DELETE THE NOTE. Ps. if as a reader you are reading this, hi.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and if I did the main character would be smarter than a gummy bear.**

A black void surrounded me. 'Is this what death is supposed to be like? It's kind of boring honestly.' I mused as I floated in the void.

"Hello?"

There was no response and I took the time to just appreciate how pain free I felt after death had finally taken me.

"Hello is anyone there?"

A little louder this time, not that I expect anything, or for that matter anyone, to answer me. An all-encompassing silence was the only response I received. I shrugged my shoulders and went back to staring at the surrounding darkness. I did this for a while before something occurred to me. I was calm. Indeed, I was far too calm to be natural.

I felt no apprehension, anger, sadness, boredom or any emotion at all, just a calm acceptance of my situation. Even the revelation of this unnatural calmness only sparked the tiniest flicker of worry before it too was swept away under the sea of calm. I spent what must have been hours attempting to force myself to feel anything besides the calmness that had settled over me. It was only partially successful. I could feel the emotion but it seemed to be dulled by whatever was happening to me in this strange place. My self-reflection had no sooner finished than a blue box appeared before me.

 **Would you like to play a game? Y/N**

I blinked once, twice and then a final time at this glowing box that had suddenly appeared in front of me.

"A game?" I asked aloud just to hear something in the soundless void I was in.

"What kind of game?"

I couldn't help but ask. I didn't expect a response yet to my surprise a smaller box appeared right underneath the first one.

 **The best kind of game, life.**

I snorted at the response, life wasn't a game. Yet even though I dismissed the response I couldn't help but wonder what would happen once I made my choice. If I picked yes would I live again or would I dance to the tune of some cosmic entity forced to obey the whims of a master I knew nothing of? Thinking more about the response I decided it would probably be a mixture of both. A frown marred my face even as the soothing feeling of calm presided over me. What if I picked no? Would I go on to whatever the afterlife had in store for me or was this the afterlife and this, my one chance to escape it?

I dithered and dallied back and forth but the decision had been already made. Whatever I faced after accepting would probably be better than an eternity in this place. With slight hesitation, and a healthy dose of fear I pressed yes.

Blinking the afterimages away I was able to slowly gather myself and take in my surroundings. Moving felt strangely sluggish and a wholly uncoordinated experience. The surrounding walls and ceilings were made out of wood and I saw wooden bars surrounding me along with several other sleeping babies in similar cribs. It hit me right as I glanced down and took in my too small hands and tiny body. I was a baby again. I couldn't even get mad, the unnatural calmness still hadn't left me. Another box appeared before me.

 **Welcome to the Game of Life. Let's start with the tutorial shall we. Think next, hit the arrow button or say next to proceed.**

Not wanting an adult to come in and hear me talking I thought 'next.'

 **Good job you're not a complete moron. Congratulations.**

I felt a tinge of anger before it was smothered again. This was really starting to get annoying.

 **You have been blessed with the ability to live your new life as a videogame. Think or say 'Status' to continue.**

'Status' I thought.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 1 year**

 **Title: Gamer**

 **LVL: 1 - 0% to next LVL**

 **HP: 50/50**

 **Chakra: 100/100**

 **STR: 5**

 **VIT: 5**

 **END: 5**

 **DEX: 5**

 **INT: 10**

 **WIS: 10**

 **LCK: 10**

 **Points: 5**

 **Money: 0**

 **These are your stats. Each level you will receive 5 points. Stats can also be leveled by manual activities related to the stat such as running or studying. A word of caution just because you're a videogame character doesn't mean other people are. You can use the 5 points now or you can continue the tutorial.**

I considered it for a moment before I decided to save the points for later. I had absolutely no clue how often I could level or how high my level could go potentially making these free points extremely valuable down the line and besides I could always increase them manually later. 'Next'.

 **For making an intelligent decision gain +1 INT.**

I had to gape at the box. 'Really it was this easy? Wait if I hadn't saved the points would it have still rewarded me or not?' I shook off the unwanted thoughts and checked my status screen. Sure enough INT was now 11 and chakra had increased to 100/200. Even as I watched the 100 tick up to 101, the realization of how strong this was hit me. I assumed health also regenerated as well, but that was something for later experimentation. My next thought hit me with all the force of a sledgehammer. Wait chakra, not mana, can I still use it like Han Jee-Han does? As much as I want to figure it out I decide to finish the tutorial first. 'Next.'

 **As the Gamer you can learn and pick up skills during your life which can be shown in your Skill tab. Say or think 'Skills' to continue.** 'Skills.'

 **Gamer's Mind (Passive) LVL Max: Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effects.**

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) LVL Max: Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

I read the first skill and the itch in the back of my head that had persisted since realizing I had an unnatural calmness went away as I found the source of it. Mentally frowning at the skill I had no choice but to accept it for now. Maybe in the future I could find a way to turn it off or at least allow me to feel something besides calm, even though I could see it's potential in dangerous situations.

 **One final thing and then the tutorial will be finished. Every gamer has one and now you do to. Say or think 'Inventory' to access your own personal hammer space perfect for storing items or hiding a body.** Twitching at the end I complied anyway. 'Inventory.'

A blue box with a grid like consistency popped up before me. Nothing was in it and I couldn't help but wonder as to it's size. I suppose I'll just have to find out later. Dismissing it with a thought, what I assumed to be the last box for the tutorial popped up.

 **Congratulations, you have completed the tutorial for your new life. Grow strong enough and one day you may travel the stars and dimensions. Take 25xp for the completion of this tutorial.**

I glanced back at my status screen to see that I was now 25% of the way to level 2. Not bad for what amounted to a couple of thoughts. Now on to the pressing question; chakra? The only people that used chakra off the top of my head would be those found in the Naruto universe and, to be honest, I'm not discounting the theory as impossible because what just happened to me seemed pretty impossible only a few minutes ago. Grumbling under my breath I moved my horribly underdeveloped body around. If I was older more options would be available to me but at least I was still male. I don't think even gamer's mind would be able control my panic if I had discovered that someone took a metaphorical scalpel to my masculinity.

A sigh that didn't belong to a baby escaped my lips. If wishes were money I'd be one rich baby. Oh well, I have a unique ability with unknown potential to help me, complaining might be a bit much. With nothing left to do I settled down to experiment with my ability. Nothing physical, it would be quite the awkward situation if someone came in to find a one year old doing push-ups.

Concentrating I looked inwards to where my chakra should be. It took a while but a bit of soul searching resulted in my first taste of chakra. I couldn't help but be in awe, such a feeling was hard to describe. It felt like water blocked by a dam, churning, swirling, awaiting the moment that I let my barriers down and unleashed it.

I tried to direct it around my body, from head to toe, hand to hand. The sound of a ding broke my concentration. Opening my eyes I was greeted by a quickly becoming familiar sight.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 1 – 0%: Chakra is what you and others will live and die by and for. By controlling it you stand above others.**

 **Decreases the cost of active techniques by 0.25%**

 **Increases Chakra control by 1%**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 0.5%**

Hmm, a passive technique. At level 100 it would decrease the cost of all techniques by 25%. That's actually pretty good for a passive. I bet I could stack that as well. Humming contentedly at the results I tried for one more technique.

Every gamer needs a mana, or in this case, chakra restoration technique. Once more I concentrate inwards sinking deep into my mind. Each breath more relaxed than the last, searching for something to give me guidance. Once more I was interrupted by a ding.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Meditation (Passive/Active) LVL 1 – 0%: Warning cannot use in battle. To know oneself body and mind. Meditation has been used for centuries to center oneself and for relaxation now you have started on the same path as though before you.**

 **Passive Effect: Increase INT and WIS by 1%**

 **Active Effect: Increases Chakra Regeneration by 10/min**

This is excellent! I thought that it would only be a chakra regeneration skill but to give a passive bonus to both my INT and WIS is far beyond what I had expected. Sure enough my status page was updated. Before I could try to create anymore skills the door to the room opened and an elderly woman with black hair in a tight bun and a gown of some sort walked in.

Apparently this set off some kind of signal to the other babies in the room as they all started fussing about or crying. Moving with an efficiency that spoke of long practice the woman travelled from bed to bed changing diapers, feeding and burping before handing them off to a young woman who had entered after her. The younger woman then left the room with the now fed and changed baby and returned without them. Scary.

Eventually the older woman reached me and to my eternal embarrassment I had soiled myself sometime before my consciousness had arrived. 'Mental note to self, situational awareness is a thing don't forget it.' After the embarrassing treatment by the older lady I was handed off to the younger one and brought to what must be a play pen of some sort. One thing I had noticed about the two ladies was that as far as I was concerned they were talking gibberish.

 **Language Comprehension (Passive): The ability to speak and understand languages.**

 **English 100%**

 **Japanese 0%**

Even as they talked the skill had ticked up by half a percent from the time the older lady walked in and the younger one had set me down in the playroom. Glancing around my new eco-system I saw half a dozen babies anywhere from a couple months old to around 2 years old walking, crawling or just sitting around banging what looked to be toy kunai. I pushed myself up and unsteadily walked closer to one of the boys. Yep, it was indeed a toy kunai that the little boy was happily chewing on.

Well shit this probably was the Naruto universe. I felt the vaguest sense of panic before it was washed away by the everlasting calm. Oh, I still felt worry about the impossibly strong people that roamed this land but it took a back burner as my mind whirled with possibilities. I must state that at no time did I ever consider trying to replay 'canon' events. I like to believe that I have an understanding of the butterfly effect and just me being here was the equivalent of a tsunami if the effect was to be believed.

This was not me being egotistic or anything but I was not in the manga and therefore any actions I took wouldn't have happened in the show and the pesky butterfly would take care of the rest to make sure I have no prophetic knowledge. That is of course assuming that this dimension was actually the 'canon' one and not a different dimension within the same universe.

 **Ding! For thinking logically take +1 WIS.**

See even the system agreed with me. I mentally dismissed the pop up and continued to think about my long term goals. The system said that if I grew strong enough I could travel dimensions but first I have to survive this place. So then the toughest person in this place in terms of descending order would be Kaguya, Madara, Tobi, Pein, Itachi the list goes on and on. The amount of S-rank ninja that were just running around able to snuff out entire villages on a whim was, quite frankly, ridiculous. Almost too much so, plot devices much? Regardless they're all just stepping stones to some of the things in the multiverse and if I ever want to live I needed to surpass them.

 **Ding! Quest Alert**

 **My What Pretty Eyes You Have…**

 **Duration: No time limit**

 **The world of Naruto contains some fearsome people and even deadly eyes. You want some of that power for yourself but only the best will do for you. When Kaguya gets released from her seal pluck her oh so special eyes from her skull and take them for yourself.**

 **Rewards: 1 Rinne Sharingan, 2 Byakugan, 10,000,000xp, 1,000,000 ryo**

It was crazy and I should have felt horrible for planning to kill another person yet all I could see were the rewards. The little boy who I have almost forgotten about started to cry disrupting my overlord fantasies

Right, back to Earth. As of this moment I was horribly weak, vulnerable and I had no clue where I was in regards to the timeline. I had to get used to this new body and get stronger as quick as possible but I was limited to skills that could be easily hidden from view. Not that I expected to be able to hide anything from ninja at this point anyway. I resisted the urge to glance around confident that I wouldn't be able to see them even if I did look, but maybe.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Sense Chakra (Passive/Active) LVL 1 – 0%: Your senses expand and you can feel the Chakra of others all around you. To actively scan you must remain still for 20 seconds and costs 10 Chakra.**

 **Passive Range: 1 meter**

 **Active Range: 5 meters**

Great that's all the skills that I could think of off the top of my head that aren't totally noticeable except for the active sense chakra which I'll stay away from for now. I don't know if it's like a sonar or if it's internal but I'll hold off for now. With that done I snatch up a toy kunai and start wobble running around while practicing my chakra Manipulation. Multitasking for the win. Sure I fell down a few times and one of the ladies watching over us took away the kunai but at the end of the day it was worth it.

 **Ding! Gained +1 DEX, +1 VIT, +2 END, +4 LVLs Chakra Manipulation, +1 LVL Sense Chakra**

Not that bad considering all the time spent with the matrons babying us to death. I know you take your job seriously but you're being a bother. No I didn't shit myself, thanks for the food now stop spoon feeding me, no I'm not tired let me run around some more. To expand on the tired part a bit. I don't ever feel tired unless what I assume to be a hidden status bar runs low after I expand energy, but if I rest for a few minutes all the aches and pains go away. This also extended to sleep in the fact that I didn't seem to need it anymore. The matron put us all to bed yet I instinctively knew that I could choose to sleep for any amount of time or just not sleep at all.

I think that this was the biggest sign of how things had changed besides the enforced calm. It also opened up more options to train at night when everyone else was asleep. I was aggravated that I didn't gain any points in strength but I was working more on cardio than any strength gain so I guess that's fair. Oh well, I spent the night in meditation because why waste the time if you have it and the fact that I didn't know if the matrons would check during the night so no physical work outs to avoid undue suspicion.

 **Ding! For making a plan to avoid suspicion take +1 WIS you sneaky bugger you…**

I felt like my power was trolling me but a free stat point, so who cares? Settling down in my crib I reached for my meditative state and spend the rest of the night, minus a few interruptions when the matron checked in or a baby got fussy during the night. 8 hours later I felt like giving the finger to the screen.

 **Ding! Gained +1 LVL Meditation**

That was seriously pathetic. Why did it take so long to level up? I thought about it and came to a realization. It was levelling up so slowly because I wasn't fully using it. Meditation could restore my chakra, but with a full chakra pool it wasn't doing that. The door opened and admitted the old lady again.

As she went about her business I had another horrible realization. I hadn't used the bathroom since I had woken yesterday. If I wanted to not stand out too much I would have to do the unspeakable. I would have to soil myself for the greater good. A deep, dark depression stole over me momentarily before the calm swept it away. I steeled myself and did the deed, never to speak of it to anyone.

Months passed and I fell into a routine all the while my frustration with my prison mounted with each passing day. Yes, logically I knew it kept me relatively safe from the outside world but I had hit a plateau on what I could do while the ever watchful eyes of the matrons looked on. Yeah Japanese comprehension was around 60% which was total bullshit but I loved it anyways. I had learned enough to eavesdrop on conversations to know that I was in Konohagakure before the attack of the nine tails and Hiruzen Sarutobi was still the Hokage. After three months these were my stats.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 1 year - 3 months**

 **Title: Gamer**

 **LVL: 1 - 25% to next LVL**

 **HP: 130/130**

 **Chakra: 204/204**

 **STR: 8**

 **VIT: 13**

 **END: 15**

 **DEX: 10**

 **INT: 11(11.11)**

 **WIS: 12(12.124**

 **LCK: 10**

 **Points: 5**

 **Money: 0**

You could probably tell by the numbers that Meditation was at level 15, while sense chakra was at level 10 and chakra manipulation had hit a plateau at level 20 before I had started to stick things to me. Now it was at level 22. Oh, I had also acquired a new skill.

 **Running (Passive) LVL 10 – 56%**

 **Run Forest Run…**

 **Passively increases movement speed by 20%**

All in all, pretty awesome for a one year old but horrible in terms of time spent to rewards ratio. Regardless the orphanage was unduly restricting me and my amazing genius. No really look at the stats, 11.11 baby I was a god amongst peasants. Worship me my minions! *Cough* See this place was slowly driving me insane even with gamer's mind. My stat gain had also gone down from lack of a proper exercise regimen. Running was good and all but the room was tiny and the matrons had started to discourage me from running because apparently 'I was disrupting' the other children.

Maybe I could start working on an active skill that I would need later in life, but what could I do that wouldn't stand out to much? Wait, stand out! I was obviously going to be a ninja and they always needed to sneak around.

This was obviously a skill, but how to acquire it? I walked over to one of the darker corners of the room and imagined myself blending into the background unseen by all.

 **Ding!**

 **Skill Learned Sneak (Active) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Sneaky, sneaky, stabby stabby. A ninja must be able to move through the shadows as if he is one himself. A master can emerge from hiding, kill, and fade away like a ghost. 50% movement penalty while using this.**

 **1% chance of going unnoticed while sneaking.**

'Now you see me, now you don't.' I noticed one of the matrons looking at me funny while I crouched in the corner and decided the skill needed a lot of work.

~9 Months later~

 **Ding!**

 **Skill Learned Sneak (Active) LVL 30 – 0%**

 **Sneaky, sneaky, stabby stabby. A ninja must be able to move through the shadows as if he is one himself. A master can emerge from hiding, kill, and fade away like a ghost. 47% movement penalty while using this.**

 **30% chance of going unnoticed while sneaking.**

I grunted as the notification popped up. Leveling stats and skills had ground to an almost complete stop. Meditation was now at level 27, while sense chakra had increased to level 20, running was at level 22 and chakra manipulation had hit a ceiling at level 40. I probably needed to do the tree and water walking exercise to level it up any higher. The only reason that chakra manipulation had even reached level 40 was because I had bit the proverbial bullet and started to form chakra strings just for some variety.

 **Chakra Strings (Active – 5(4.5)/min) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Strings formed of pure Chakra manipulation. This technique is most widely used in Suna's Puppeteer Corps. Decreases the time necessary to form the strings by 50%**

 ***Invisible Strings (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Renders the Chakra Strings invisible to the naked eye.**

 ***Length (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Increases functional length of the strings to 100m.**

 ***Strength (Passive) LVL 2 – 57%**

 **Increases lifting weight of each string by 10kg**

Apparently when I max out a skill it has some sort of a prestige component that I could level to improve the original skill. Sort of like a skill tree. If any ninja happened to be passing by it must have seemed rather odd to them for a child to be manipulating chakra strings but I'd gone beyond caring at this point, such was my boredom.

Happily I had gotten an INT point for reaching 100% comprehension in Japanese and we had started learning how to read and write. I was at 30% now written comprehension and I think I startled the teacher with my laser like focus. These were my updated stats and skills.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 2 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Gamer**

 **LVL: 1 - 25% to next LVL**

 **HP: 160/160**

 **Chakra: 360/360**

 **STR: 12**

 **VIT: 16**

 **END: 18**

 **DEX: 14**

 **INT: 12(12.24)**

 **WIS: 12(12.24)**

 **LCK: 11**

 **Points: 5**

 **Money: 0**

Akane, my first human contact upon arriving to this dimension, had given me a candy bar today to celebrate my birthday. It was a nice gesture and I made sure to thank her for it. After I ate it I actually felt tired for once which was odd. I hadn't felt tried once so far, but maybe that trait had a limit.

 **Ding!**

 **Poison Resistance (Passive) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Gain a 1% resistance to poisons per level.**

'Shit' was my last thought before I slumped unconscious.

~Interlude~ Akane Report

Report,

Subject: Shiro, male

Day 1

Subject seems to have gained control of his chakra at 1 year of age and is manipulating it in a controlled way. Only observable upon direct contact. Chakra pool rapidly increasing. Heightened awareness. Possible sensor. Subject running patterns mimic endurance training. Subject did not sleep, fell into meditative state.

Day 90

Sudden increase in subject chakra capacity. Cause unknown. Potential bloodline possible. Chakra manipulation advanced. Subject is now sticking clothes to skin. Subject has still not slept.

Day 120

Subject is now creating chakra strings. Subject has not slept for four months now. Sensor confirmed.

Day 180

Subject's chakra strings no longer visible. Subject's understanding of language very high.

Day 364

Subject's progress slowing down. Further progress held back by location and subject's want to hide progress. Recommend subject extraction to site Omega for possible recruitment.

Day 365

Target relocated.

~Interlude End~

I woke up to a blue screen that seemed to mock me.

 **Both HP and Chakra are restored 100%, status effects removed**

 **Ding! Poison Resistance +4, New Quest Available**

 **In the Shadows the Root Grows**

 **Shimura Danzo, leader of the Root, wishes to see for himself your potential. Impress him and he will groom your potential. Waste his time and you might find yourself mind wiped of this event or even killed if you try to escape.**

 **Rewards: 3000xp, 300ryo, Title Root Shinobi in Training**

Fuck! Okay, it wasn't that bad. Yes, I had screwed up and caught Danzo's attention but this could benefit me. All I really needed was for gamer's mind to protect me from mental manipulation.

"Hello Shiro." An aged voice came from my right.

Of course the space where he sat definitely didn't have a chair or Danzo until I heard him speak. I partially ignored him for now in favor of taking in my surroundings. It was depressingly drab with dark concrete walls and no visible door in sight. I finished my inspection of the room and turned my attention back to Danzo.

He looked just like in the anime, heavily bandaged face, same robes. The only difference was the perfectly functioning right arm. So this was before Orochimaru had experimented on him.

"Hello, I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. Who are you and where am I?"

He nodded slowly, his sole good eye fixed on me. "You are in my base, located somewhere within the Elemental Nations As for me, you could say I'm a concerned old man."

It was going to be this type of conversation. Half-truths and white lies. Honestly, I was a two year old for all he knew, what was with this politicking?

"Then would the concerned old man tell me why I am here?"

It was at this point a bit too obvious that I had been caught whilst doing one of my many, not so childlike, activities. Eh, I expected something like this to happen anyways. I didn't act like a child and if a village full of people specializing in deception couldn't figure that out then, well, that would be pretty stupid.

"My people have taken notice of your talents. We would like to investigate them." Translation: You're an anomaly even by our standards and we're curious.

"What do you want to know?"

Danzo didn't immediately answer me and let the silence stretch on, no doubt to see me squirm. Too bad for him, gamer's mind pretty much made it impossible for me to squirm.

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order." He finally said.

Now it was my turn to let the silence stretch. In the end I shrugged my shoulders and asked him.

"Give me a scroll with a simple technique."

Danzo didn't blink and simply held out his hand, unto which a scroll dropped down. Looking up I saw the Root shinobi though I could not sense him just as Danzo had been invisible to my sensory skills before revealing himself.

 **Ding! Would you like to learn the Clone Technique? Y/N**

'Yes.'

Without opening the scroll the information entered my head just as the scroll itself disappeared.

 **Ding!**

 **Clone Technique(E-rank) learned (Active 50(45)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **The Clone Technique creates an illusionary copy of the creator that can move around at the creator's command. This is one of the three techniques necessary for any aspiring genin. Warning clones do not have shadows.**

 **Decreases casting time by 10%**

I formed the necessary hand signs and with a poof of smoke another copy of me appeared. Danzo leaned forward as soon as I was finished.

"Could you do this with any written technique or any written information?" He asked. I shrugged for real this time.

"I don't know. I should be able to eat up techniques, but I don't think I could perform them all. As for information your guess is as good as mine"

Another scroll fell down into my lap.

"Try it with this scroll." I picked it up but nothing happened. I shook my head in the negative. He hummed in thought even as the scroll floated upwards. My curiosity towards the third member in the room was growing but gamer's mind took care of any irritation, burying it under the ever present sea of calm.

We sat there in silence, but this silence was all the more heavy with the knowledge that Danzo was probably deciding my fate. It was a harrowing experience being helpless to sit and watch as someone decided whether your lived, died or worse. After what felt like forever Danzo spoke up.

"I believe that your talents would go to waste if you were to live a normal life. Under me you could grow. I know you want that much."

He paused for a moment and then continued.

"From now on you will refer to me as Lord Danzo. This" and here popped up our mysterious guest, dressed in ANBU uniform, "will be your superior. From now on you answer to her. You will do as she says whether it is cutting your finger off or killing someone, you will obey. I, and only I, can overrule her word."

He pause for a moment, giving me just enough time to catch up before carrying on.

"Effective immediately you are no longer Shiro. You are a member of Root. All that matters is the village. A shinobi's destiny is serve the village. You will complete your missions without hesitation. You will train without pause. You will live without feeling. That is what it means to be a Root shinobi. You will be the shadow that protects the great tree, the root that upholds the great tree and when it is all over you will die for the great tree. Welcome to Root!"

 **Ding! Quest Complete. Level UP X 4! Gained 300ryo and one new title.**

 **Root Shinobi in Training – Some would call it insane, they call it training. 20% experience gain and stat gain while this title is equipped.**

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 2 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi in Training**

 **LVL: 5 - 5% to next LVL**

 **HP: 160/160**

 **Chakra: 360/360**

 **STR: 12**

 **VIT: 16**

 **END: 18**

 **DEX: 14**

 **INT: 12(12.24)**

 **WIS: 12(12.24)**

 **LCK: 11**

 **Points: 25**

 **Money: 300**

 **Skills:**

 ***Poison Resistance (Passive) LVL 5 – 3%**

 **Gain a 5% resistance to poisons.**

 ***Clone Technique (E-rank) learned (Active 50(45)) LVL 1 – 5%**

 **The Clone Technique creates an illusionary copy of the creator that can move around at the creators command. This is one of the three techniques necessary for any aspiring genin. Warning clones do not have shadows.**

 **Decreases casting time by 10%**

 ***Chakra Strings (Active – 5(4.5)/min) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Strings formed of pure Chakra manipulation. This technique is most widely used in Suna's Puppeteer Corps. Decreases the time necessary to form the strings by 50%**

 ***Invisible Strings (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Renders the Chakra Strings invisible to the naked eye.**

 ***Length (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Increases functional length of the strings to 100m.**

 ***Strength (Passive) LVL 2 – 57%**

 **Increases lifting weight of each string by 10kg**

 ***Sneak (Active) LVL 30 – 0%**

 **Sneaky, sneaky, stabby stabby. A ninja must be able to move through the shadows as if he is one himself. A master can emerge from hiding, kill, and fade away like a ghost. 47% movement penalty while using this.**

 **30% chance of going unnoticed while sneaking.**

 ***Running (Passive) LVL 20 – 26%**

 **Run Forest Run…**

 **Passively increases movement speed by 30%**

 ***Learned Meditation (Passive/Active) LVL 27 – 56%: Warning cannot use in battle. To know oneself body and mind. Meditation has been used for centuries to center oneself and for relaxation now you have started on the same path as though before you.**

 **Passive Effect: Increase INT and WIS by 2%**

 **Active Effect: Increases Chakra Regeneration by 37/min**

 ***Sense Chakra (Passive/Active) LVL 20 – 2%: Your senses expand and you can feel the Chakra of others all around you. To actively scan you must remain still for 20 seconds and costs 10 Chakra.**

 **Passive Range: 20 meter**

 **Active Range: 100 meters**

 ***Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 40 – 0%: Chakra is what you and others will live and die by and for. By controlling it you stand above others.**

 **Decreases the cost of active techniques by 10%**

 **Increases Chakra control by 40%**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 20%**

 ***Gamer's Mind (Passive) LVL Max: Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effects.**

 ***Gamer's Body (Passive) LVL Max: Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 **Author's Note: Hello everyone. I would like to explain how stats are going to relate to the real world and how I envision how much Chakra each technique rank should be. To start off with though if you see something wrong with my math or an error for a skill or the status page please let me know.**

 **Genin - starting off around 60-80 base physical stats**

 **Chunin - 120 base physical stats**

 **Jonin - 180 base physical stats**

 **ANBU/Root - 210 base physical stats**

 **Hokage/S-rank threats - 250+ base physical stats**

 **Disclaimer not all physical stats need to be at that level to be considered a certain level. Think like ANBU speed but Chunin strength.**

 **Technique costs (Can vary)**

 **E - 50**

 **D - 100**

 **C - 250**

 **B - 500**

 **A - 1000**

 **S - 5000+**

 **I envision(with 100 INT) for Shiro to have around 25,000 Chakra with bonuses included. Tell me what you think about it(nerf or buff). I also don't plan to have him be spending many points at all. Most if not all stat gain will be done through training(except maybe WIS and INT) so it will take years and not weeks before he can even stand up to a chunin.**

 **B/N: Help, I'm locked in his basement. He's making me edit his chapters, call 911!**


	2. Root Training

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto which makes me sad.**

I looked towards my instructor and even though I know she is female it's hard to see it through the probably intentionally baggy clothing and blank mask that hides her hair and face. She motions me to follow and I climbed out of the bed to do so. Still without talking she led me to one of the walls and upon nearing it a section sinks into the ground allowing us out of the room into a dark grey corridor similar to the room. A noise behind me catches my attention and I watch as the section of the wall rises back up and seals off the room. Some kind of Earth manipulation probably.

My new sensei leads me through the purposely similar maze like corridors until we stop at another blank section of wall which like before sinks down to admit us to some type of lab. Another androgynous person in a mask is waiting for us, at least this one speaks.

"Sit on the stool here." The doctor commanded. I did so and he started attaching monitors to me. "Before we start training you we need to know what level you are already at and if your bloodline grants you additional features that aren't readily apparent. To do that we will need to do some testing first. Some of these tests will be painful or stressful but you will need to move past that. Do you understand?" I nod and the battery of tests begin.

It seems pretty normal tests for strength, dexterity, reflexes, memory retention stuff that seemed to be standard tests. Then we got to test my healing factor. The doctor made a little cut on my arm that completely healed within a minute. What I assumed raised eyebrows was how it healed. One minute it was still bleeding and the next it was fixed. No visible healing just blink and you would miss it. The doctor took it well and made a series of small cuts with one longer one on both arms that healed one by one in the same fashion as the first. The longer one healed in parts but still the same fashion as the others.

The doctor made some notes and thankfully moved on to the next test. This one involved Chakra and how fast I regenerated it. The doctor attached another node to me and told me to expel a quarter of my Charka. I did so and we waited for about an hour for it to fully recharge. It was probably foolish of me but in order to receive better training I explained that I could regenerate Chakra if I fell into a meditative state. He had me do the same exercise again except this time it took 2 minutes for me to fully recharge. A momentary pause was all the reaction I got before the doctor finished writing on his clipboard and dismissed both of us.

My sensei led me through even more uniform tunnels to what seemed to be a storehouse for equipment. My sensei blurred away and returned with a bundle of clothes which she gave to me to put on. The chainmail mesh went on first then the darker clothes on top with open toed sandals for footwear. Finally the full head facemask went on last covering my white hair and adhering to my face. I knew that they had to see out of the mask somehow but it still surprised me when, after a brief moment of blindness, the mask turned transparent to my view and I looked around marveling at it. Getting over it soon enough I finished putting two kunai pouches, one on each leg, and five shurikens up each sleeve. I had to get help with the last part.

That over my sensei led me to a large open room with posts with numerous nicks and gouges on them. Going to the center of the room she turned to me and spoke for the first time. "Impress me." Then there were kunai flying at me. For the first time I could actually sense her Chakra and knew that she was doing it for my benefit. I barely had time to process the fact before I had to dodge, one kunai slicing a line through my arm when I didn't dodge quite fast enough.

Quickly palming a kunai and chucking it at her, and ignoring the resulting pop up, I blurred through the hand signs creating a clone that went right while I went left. She dodged it of course. It was almost lazy the way she did it, moving not an inch more than necessary to dodge. That was fine it wasn't meant to hit her. With a twitch of my finger the Chakra string attached to it sent it flying at her undefended back. Once more she dodged with enviable grace not that I expected anything less.

Making the clone stop and look like it was controlling the now attacking kunai I sent my Chakra inward, empowering myself and ignoring another pop up. Palming another kunai I charged forward towards my sensei where she was now lazily slapping away the kunai when it got too close. I charged faster and faster until I was right next to her arm poised to strike when it felt like a mountain crashed down on my face sending me tumbling away.

I didn't land very well rolling along the ground as my fingers lost their grip on the kunai sending it flying away. I stumbled to my feet, cheek aching, to see her arm still extended and palm out. She bitch slapped me an incredulous portion of my mind spoke up before she was right in front of me and oh there is her leg. I must admit I have no idea how to move my body in a physical fight so what happened next was a complete and utter slaughter at close range fighting. When she seemingly tired of using me as a human punching bag she held up her hand in a stop motion and spoke for the second time. "Pathetic."

A mixture of shame and anger welled up within me before being smothered by calm. "I know sensei." I stood with some difficulty and eyed my stats, half health and a quarter Chakra left, enough for now.

"Good. 200 pushups, 200 situps and 50 laps around the room. No Chakra. Go." A woman of few words. I pushed my aching body into the exercise while looking at the pop ups I dismissed earlier.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Chakra Enhancement (Active 15/min) LVL 1 – 63%**

 **Chakra can be used to enhance the physical aspects of your body leading to an increased performance. Careful not to push too hard or you might break something.**

 **Increases STR, DEX and END by 5%**

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Kunai Handling (Passive) LVL 1 – 15%**

 **You can use a kunai without stabbing yourself… probably.**

 **10% increase in accuracy**

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Pain Tolerance (Passive) LVL 2 – 3%**

 **Where others falter you can continue.**

 **2% chance of ignoring pain when dealt an injury.**

A pretty good haul of skills for being beaten up. It's a far better use of my time than trying, and failing, to improve myself at the orphanage without anyone noticing. So what if I'm recruited into a secret organization in the shinobi world. I never expected the world to conform to the show where Naruto can use his therapy jutsu to make everything better. No, this is a world of death and I need to grow strong enough to survive it. If that means my ledger becomes red with the blood of others so be it.

 **Ding! For realizing the necessity of a plan to survive take +1 WIS, +1 INT.**

I could feel my sensei's gaze snap to me at my sudden surge of Chakra. 'Oh, so that's how they found me.'

 **Ding! For realizing how Danzo's people found you take +1 INT.** 'Shut up.'

~Interlude~ Danzo

An interesting report came in from one of my non-field operatives manning an orphanage to search for talent that could be used for the betterment of Konohagakure. A one year old actively using Chakra. That's abnormal even for ninjas. A quick order for an increased watch over him and he turned his attention back to reports from the front. After all he had a war to win.

Even with events on the border becoming increasingly bloody I was intrigued enough by the reports about Shiro to attend to him myself as he was brought in. The order was sent and he was quickly processed and brought to one of my bases in Konoha. He didn't look like much but then appearances are always deceiving and even with the emerald eyes and white hair he still looks like a normal child.

I had to snort at that 'normal' nothing he does is normal or he wouldn't be here. Oh well time to get this show rolling. Everyone has their Chakra suppressed to keep him off guard if the reports of him being a Senor are true. He's awake now and not seeming to panic in the slightest at his predicament, good. He begins probing me for answers, not subtle in the least but that can be excused by his age, and I give him non answers. Finally I give him a chance to brag about his bloodline, maybe show off a bit and make him reveal something he hasn't already shown us.

Asking for an E-rank jutsu scroll was odd but doable. As he picked up the scroll Saiko settled in behind him garrote held around his neck. When the scroll started dissolving into light I had to quickly order her not to kill him. Then the brat goes and uses the Clone technique written on the scroll saying he 'ate' the knowledge that it held. Sadly it doesn't work for a report on population census in a neighboring civilian village but the potential for this is still extreme. It reminds me of the Uchiha's eyes almost but without the potential genjutsu usage. Probably for the best. I also saw the tiniest flicker of annoyance as the scrolls keep on appearing and disappearing without his notice. The others in the room were also amused by it.

I decide that he has too much potential to waste going the conventional route through the Academy and give him one final test by seeing how he reacts to my philosophy. His answer… surprised me. It brought out long held memories of fighting and the dying screams of my enemies. It actually brought a smile to my face. One that I noticed Saiko shivered at while he stared at me intently. He'll go far or burn out, either one. I left him to Saiko and left the interesting diversion from the war and paperwork behind. Damn paperwork.

Saiko flickered into being before my desk head bowed and on one knee. "Report." She brought out the medical report going over the impressive healing factor and astounding Chakra regeneration in detail before going over his training test.

"He has a good tactical sense using a combination of diversions and misdirection to achieve his goal. He also seemed to create and use a technique, Chakra enhancement, on the spot with no prior training. In an attempt to goad him into an emotional response he remained calm throughout. He doesn't seem to have any training with taijutsu. In addition he had two more spikes of Chakra gain right after the fight. Right now I have him exercising."

Hm, sort of like pushing himself to the next level when faced with adversary. I considered the report before dismissing her. The Shadow clone popped and I was left with my mountain of paperwork. I eyed it distastefully and decided to bring my new member to Hiruzen's attention. After all the Root supports the tree.

~Interlude End~

I came to a rest as I finished my laps. Breathing deeply I faced my sensei and received the barest nod of approval. She tossed me a scroll and commanded me to eat it.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Beginner's Leaf Taijutsu (Passive) LVL 1 – 20%**

 **Basic katas at the beginning level of martial arts. It won't impress anyone but at least you know it.**

 **Increases DEX and STR by 10% while using.**

"Do you know it?" I nod. "Good go through the katas." I go through all 20 of them with her calling out flaws and correcting them. I finished the set and she orders me to do another set of the same exercise as before. This goes on and on for what seems like hours although it's hard to tell without the sun until finally she stops me.

As meal appears before me and I shovel down the bland tasting meal with gusto. I'm a growing boy after all. I didn't even see her bring the meal but that's not saying much. As soon as I'm done my plate disappears and in its place a mound of scrolls almost as high as I am appears. I look back and forth from my sensei to the mound of scrolls. "You don't need sleep yes?" I feel like I shouldn't but I cautiously nod. "Good. See if you can eat any of these." I shift through the pile but no pop ups occur and I inform her that I can't. "Alright, read these, don't leave the room. Bathrooms over there,' a section of the wall sinks to the floor, 'if you need anything say it out loud. I'll be back after I wake up."

With that she vanishes leaving me 'alone' with the mound of about 50 scrolls or so. I stoically pick up the first one and begin reading. At first I miss a few words but as time goes on I miss less and less until my reading comprehension reaches 100%. I've gone through 20 scrolls by now and I decide on a quick break to test out the new techniques I have.

Chakra flows through me as I test throwing my kunai at the targets with and without enhancements. Testing the difference in strength and speed. I draw the kunai back with Chakra strings until I have to meditate to recharge. Sitting down I meditate until I'm topped off when my stomach lets out a hungry growl. The sound confuses me for a moment. I don't get hungry anymore so why would my stomach growl? I shrug mentally and almost sheepishly ask, "Can I have some food please?"

Another bland meal appears before me. I'm getting kind of annoyed at that actually. Yes, I know you're impossibly strong compared to me you don't have to keep rubbing it in my face. Finishing off my meal I return to my studies managing to finish everything right before my sensei shows up. I guess that's the end of day one.

 **Ding! Gained +1 LVL Chakra Enhancement, +2 LVL Kunai handling, +1 LVL Chakra manipulation +6 INT, +3 WIS, +3END, +1 VIT, +4 STR, +2 DEX**

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 2 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi in Training**

 **LVL: 5 - 5% to next LVL**

 **HP: 170/170**

 **Chakra: 1085/1085**

 **STR: 16**

 **VIT: 17**

 **END: 21**

 **DEX: 16**

 **INT: 18(18.36)**

 **WIS: 15(15.3)**

 **LCK: 11**

 **Points: 25**

 **Money: 300**

My sensei just stares and stares at me in silence the next day after she appeared. I don't say anything and neither does she for the longest time. I start to fidget after a while. "Brat, what kind of monster are you?"

"Excuse me?" She continues on as if I didn't talk.

"When people think of a prodigy or a genius they think of someone who can master anything effortlessly. You on the other hand seem to fit in the same category yet in just one night I can feel how much more potent your Chakra pool is. Your bloodline makes you a giant amongst those we call geniuses and that's why you're a monster. That's fine though, as long as you're our monster and can use that power to protect the village you will always be accepted. You may be feared but accepted all the same. On the other hand,' I can feel her glare sharpen on me even through the mask,' if you abandon the village you will be a monster to everyone and no one will protect or accept you. Do you understand?"

I can't let that pass without comment it would be bad. Slowly my hand reaches up and removes the mask. My normally calm face set into a scowl. "Sensei you get a pass this time, but question my loyalty again and I'll train and train and train until I'm strong enough to beat you black and blue." Having said my piece I slide my mask back over my face. "Now what do you have for me today?" A silence falls between us before she starts barking out commands. I feel as though I've passed some silent test and for that I'm grateful.

Days turn into weeks, into months and I finally learn my sensei's name, Saiko, along with asking a question that's been bugging me since I got here. "Saiko sensei, why can't I Sense anyone's Chakra here?" She finishes her throw and the shuriken flies towards me which I deflect with a clang. I kept running through the obstacle course as she takes her time to respond. "We suppressed our Chakra's natural leakage from our bodies once we knew you were coming."

"Tch." Finishing a particularly difficult contortion in midair to avoid being impaled I continued talking. "So you knew I was a Sensor."

"Nope." I nearly faltered at her downright cheerful tone but managed to slide/duck under the next blade. "Thanks for confirming it though." This time I did stop before her barrage of weapons forced me to jump over the spike filled pit.

"I messed up by giving away information, didn't I?"

"Sort of. You did well at keeping your ability a secret for so long but in the end we had our suspicions and you merely confirmed them. Just remember the shinobi world lives and dies on information. Guard it well and seek it like it the most precious gold yet don't keep information from Lord Danzo or Lord Hokage. They need to know for the betterment of the village. Now since our little monster has revealed yet another talent let's stop this for now and I'll set you on the Sensor course."

I stop running through the death- I mean training course and follow Saiko out the door. The corridors are still as confusing as ever yet she unerringly leads me through the twists and turns until we arrive at a door with only darkness beyond. "This,' she motions towards the darkness, 'is a sensory deprivation room that will only allow you navigate by sensing the Chakra in the room. To that end,' she stabs me with a needle, 'we use this drug to take away the sense of touch."

I ignore the ding as she wraps a cloth over my mask, not really sure I need it in a pitch black room but okay. "Before I block your hearing can you still feel?" I nod and with a put upon sigh she stabs another needle into me. Now I can feel it or rather I can't feel anything at all. "How about now?"

"I can't feel anything." She does something to my ears and all sound vanishes. A force on my back sends me tumbling into the room and I think I hit the floor or something. All I know is that I can taste blood. It's almost eerie how similar this place is to the void after death. I would panic but Gamer's mind saves me again and all I feel is calm as my Chakra sense stretches out.

I can feel it after an unknown amount of time. Like a trail of breadcrumbs it leads to a shining beacon in the darkness. Trying to stand fails so I am left to crawl my way towards the beacon. I can feel it getting closer and closer and once I am close enough to reach out and touch it the beacon vanishes. I'm left in darkness once more until I sense a fainter beacon in the distance. Once more I resume my crawl. The cycle repeats over and over until there is nothing left and I can feel myself being lifted up. Everything is returned and now everything is too bright, too loud and too clear. I nearly pass out but I hang on long enough for the deluge of information to clear.

 **Ding! For extreme training gain +10 LVLs Chakra Sense**

Saiko lets me rest for the rest of the day which is an unusual treat. I spend it meditating and coming to terms with having all my senses back. The next day is back to the grind like nothing ever happened and time continues to pass by.

Several more months pass before Saiko sensei moves on to the genjutsu portion of my training or rather the identification and nullification of hostile genjutsu upon my person. I have mixed feelings about the subject. On one hand I dislike the idea of messing with another person's perception of reality and on the other hand I don't know if genjutsu will even affect me.

The time comes all too fast and Saiko finishes a set of hand seals that does nothing. Nothing changes and a quick check of my body and a glance around reveals nothing out of place. "Sensei what was the technique supposed to do?"

"You don't see anything?" I shake my head. "It was supposed to show you your darkest fear. Hang on this one will make you feel like bugs are crawling in your skin." That sounds unpleasant.

The hand seals finish and once more nothing happens. I feel the need to sheepishly rub my head before it gives way to calm. "Sorry sensei nothing."

"Wait here." Wow she sounded kind of annoyed. A few minutes later Saiko returns with another Root Shinobi. "Tap the side of your mask and look into his eyes." A portion of my mask slides away revealing my eyes. Emerald met red and nothing happened. A lot of that is happening today. I look back at my sensei and shake my head in the negative. Commanding me to resume my exercises they both disappear.

~1 Year after joining Root~

Saiko sensei leads me through the maze like tunnels which still confuse me even after a year here to a room where Lord Danzo is waiting. I kneel, as does Saiko, and I await him to acknowledge me. A twitch of his finger and Saiko melts back into the shadows, dismissed. "Saiko has informed me that she feels you are ready to take your final test to become a Root Shinobi."

 **Ding! Quest Alert Shinobi of the Root**

 **Lord Danzo has one final test before you can stand and fight with the proud Shinobi of the Root for the protection of Konohagakure. Follow him and complete your test.**

 **Rewards: 3000xp, 500ryo, title Root Shinobi**

"Yes, Lord Danzo, I am honored sensei considers me ready and I will not disappoint her in this." A noncommittal hum as he motions me to follow him through the doorway. I smoothly rise and follow three steps behind him to his left as is proper. The room has nothing but a young woman strapped to the wall. Various wounds littler her body and only the bare amount of clothes protect her modesty. For all her horrific wounds her eyes still dart around the room and from time to time I can see her testing her bonds. I take in all of this before Lord Danzo speaks again.

"During missions for the village you will be called upon to take another person's life. Whether in battle or when they lay helpless before you. To know that you will not hesitate we test you so that your hesitation will not get other shinobi killed. Remove your mask, take this kunai and kill her. Remember a shinobi's duty is to complete the mission, without remorse, without feelings."

Slowly my mask is removed and I take the kunai from his hand, careful not to scratch him, and walk towards the chained woman. She heard what Lord Danzo said and her attempts at escape are far more frantic now, eyes darting everywhere. I draw closer and closer while realization dawns in her eyes. My arm moves, hundreds of hours of practice set into motion, one strike through the fleshy part of her lower jaw and into her brain. She gives one last, wet, desperate gurgle then falls still. Her body slumping against her bonds.

"Congratulations Shiro you are a shinobi of the Root now after killing an Iwa chunin." I feel a hand on my shoulder and look back to see the unmasked face of Saiko standing behind me with a slight smile on her face. I should feel horrified at what I've done, shocked, angry, sad yet all I feel is calm and at that moment I realize Saiko is right I am a monster.

 **Ding! Quest complete. Gained Level up X 3, title Rookie Root Shinobi, 500ryo**

 **Rookie Root Shinobi: When equipped gain a 20% increase in stealth**

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 3 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 8 - 1% to next LVL**

 **HP: 590/590**

 **Chakra: 8,550/8,550**

 **STR: 61(67.1)**

 **VIT: 59**

 **END: 63**

 **DEX: 75**

 **INT: 53(54.59)**

 **WIS: 52(53.56)**

 **LCK: 13**

 **Points: 40**

 **Money: 800**

 **Skills:**

 **Chakra Control**

 ***Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 60 – 0%: Chakra is what you and others will live and die by. By controlling it you stand above others.**

 **Decreases the cost of active techniques by 15%**

 **Increases Chakra control by 60%**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 30%**

 **Tree Walking (Active 30(25.5)/min) LVL 10 MAX**

 **An exercise meant to promote Chakra control and grow reserves.**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 25%**

 **Water Walking (Active 40(36)/min) LVL 10 MAX**

 **An exercise meant to promote Chakra control and grow reserves.**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 25%**

 **Ninjutsu**

 ***Clone Technique (E-rank) learned (Active 50(42.5)) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **The Clone Technique creates an illusionary copy of the creator that can move around at the creators command. This is one of the three techniques necessary for any aspiring genin. Warning clones do not have shadows.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **Speed (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **No Hands (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Eliminates the need for hand signs**

 ***Henge (E-rank) learned (Active 50(42.5)) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Henge creates an illusion made of Chakra that surrounds the user in whatever form they create.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **Speed (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **No Hands (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Eliminates the need for hand signs**

 ***Substitution (E-rank) learned (Active 50(42.5)) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **The Substitution technique uses Chakra to latch onto and switch places with a target.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **Speed (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **No Hands (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Eliminates the need for hand signs**

 **Chakra Shaping**

 ***Chakra Strings (Active – 5(4.25)/min) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Strings formed of pure Chakra manipulation. This technique is most widely used in Suna's Puppeteer Corps. Decreases the time necessary to form the strings by 50%**

 ***Invisible Strings (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Renders the Chakra Strings invisible to the naked eye.**

 ***Length (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Increases functional length of the strings to 100m.**

 ***Strength (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Increases lifting weight of each string by 100kg**

 ***Multitasking (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Increases number of strings active by 20**

 ***Emissions (Passive) LVL 6 – 67%**

 **Decreases the Chakra emission by 30%**

 ***Chakra Enhancement (Active 15(12.75)/min) LVL 8 – 13%**

 **Chakra can be used to enhance the physical aspects of your body leading to an increased performance. Careful not to push too hard or you might break something.**

 **Increases STR, DEX and END by 40%**

 **Shinobi Tools**

 ***Kunai Handling (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **You can use a kunai without stabbing yourself… probably.**

 **100% increase in accuracy**

 ***Shuriken Handling (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **You can use a shuriken without stabbing yourself… probably.**

 **100% increase in accuracy**

 ***Senbon Handling (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **You can use a senbon without stabbing yourself… probably.**

 **100% increase in accuracy**

 **Passives**

 ***Gamer's Mind (Passive) LVL Max: Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effects.**

 ***Gamer's Body (Passive) LVL Max: Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 ***Lesser Giant Strength (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 10% bonus to STR**

 ***Lesser Troll Regeneration (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 1% bonus to Health Regeneration**

 ***Bronze Skin (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 10% damage reduction**

 ***Fluid Movement (Passive) LVL MAX: Your movements seem to flow together almost like a dance.**

 ***Lesser Chakra Pool (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 10% increase in Chakra capacity**

 ***Lesser Chakra Regeneration (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 10% increase in Chakra regeneration**

 ***Anatomy (Passive) LVL MAX: An understanding of the human body and its weaknesses.**

 ***Hand signs (Passive) LVL MAX: An understanding of the basic hand signs used for Jutsu. Decreases casting time for techniques by 25%**

 ***Running (Passive) LVL 80 – 6%**

 **Run Forest Run…**

 **Passively increases movement speed by 90%**

 ***Pain Tolerance (Passive) LVL 15 – 13%**

 **Where others falter you can continue.**

 **15% chance of ignoring pain when dealt an injury**

 **Language Comprehension (Passive): The ability to speak and understand languages.**

 **English 100%**

 **Japanese 100%**

 **Resistances**

 ***Poison Resistance (Passive) LVL 8 – 14%**

 **Gain a 8% resistance to poisons.**

 **Chakra Regenerative**

 ***Learned Meditation (Passive/Active) LVL 35 – 14%: Warning cannot use in battle. To know oneself body and mind. Meditation has been used for centuries to center oneself and for relaxation now you have started on the same path as though before you.**

 **Passive Effect: Increase INT and WIS by 3%**

 **Active Effect: Increases Chakra Regeneration by 45/min**

 **Taijutsu**

 *** Beginner's Leaf Taijutsu (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Basic katas at the beginning level of martial arts. It won't impress anyone but at least you know it.**

 **Increases DEX and STR by 10% while using.**

 **Intermediate Leaf Taijutsu (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Intermediate katas at the beginning level of martial arts. It won't impress anyone but at least you know it.**

 **Increases DEX and STR by 10% while using.**

 **Expert Leaf Taijutsu (Passive) LVL 7 – 92%11**

 **Expert katas at the beginning level of martial arts.**

 **Increases DEX and STR by 10% while using.**

 **Shinobi Arts**

 ***Sneak (Active) LVL 56 – 0%**

 **Sneaky, sneaky, stabby stabby. A ninja must be able to move through the shadows as if he is one himself. A master can emerge from hiding, kill, and fade away like a ghost. 45% movement penalty while using this.**

 **56% chance of going unnoticed while sneaking.**

 ***Sense Chakra (Passive/Active) LVL 35 – 2%: Your senses expand and you can feel the Chakra of others all around you. To actively scan you must remain still for 20 seconds and costs 10(8.5) Chakra.**

 **Passive Range: 35 meters**

 **Active Range: 175 meters**

 **Author's Note: I've decided that the being that sent Shiro to Naruto's world will withdraw all future knowledge of the show from him without him noticing with the exception of a few things like the quest for Kaguya's eyes and a few people's names.**


	3. Meeting Kushina

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto sadly.**

 **Quick note for those who missed it. I've decided to have the being that sent Shiro to Naruto's world strip him of his memories of the show except for a few inconsequential things such as names and the first quest he received.**

Saiko's hand was comforting as she led me out of the room and into another. My mind was still so calm after what I had done that I couldn't really bring myself to focus on my surroundings. Lord Danzo was waiting in the other room with a complicated sealing array on the floor. I was directed to stand in the middle of it and I did so carefully as to not disrupt the complicated lines. When I was in position Lord Danzo slapped his hands on the array, Chakra flowed out of him, and the lines began to writhe and twist pulling off the floor to hang in midair. "Open your mouth and stick out your tongue."

I did so and the ink flowed into my open mouth, directly under my tongue, burning as it did so. It was an excruciating pain, yet I didn't move and soon enough the flow stopped. With it no longer streaming into my mouth the pain also faded away leaving a tingling sensation in my mouth.

 **Ding! Received Root Seal of Silence: Silence is golden and this seal prevents you from revealing Konohagakure or Root secrets to anyone not in Root or approved by Lord Danzo. In addition a Chakra pulse directed at the seal will reveal yourself to operatives near you. Burns itself to nothing upon your death.**

 **Approved people:**

 **Lord Hokage**

 **Jonin Commander**

 **ANBU Commander**

Once more Saiko's hand went to my shoulder and I let her lead me to wherever she wanted to go. I was distracted by what I had just done yet at the same time I was still tranquil as though I had done nothing more than take a walk in the park. Even my brooding was stripped away as it must have interfered with my Gamer's mind skill. I wanted to rage at that yet rage was replaced by calm and then I felt nothing but calm about what I had just done. I guess I'll never be allowed to angst over my decisions with this skill and truthfully I don't think I wanted to get rid of it. It's been such a long time since I've had to control my emotions I would be a wreck without it and I think it's one of the few things keeping me sane at the moment.

"We're here." I snap out of my thoughts and notice a bathroom? I looked at Saiko questioningly. "You're covered in blood brat." I looked down and saw that yes my black clothes were covered in dark red blood. My face must be covered as well if the amount on my clothes is any indication. Quickly stripping myself and throwing the soiled clothes in the wash, black is so good at hiding blood stains, I stepped into the bathroom proper.

I sat down on a small stoop but before I could even start washing myself I felt a washcloth on my back start moving in soothing circles. "Saiko sensei, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like brat? I'm doing my duty as your sensei to clean you up after your first kill."

"I can do that myself."

"I know that brat but this is tradition. Now shut up and let me do this." I swallowed my complaints as her fingers skillfully massage my head while applying shampoo. Eventually her careful ministrations ended and with a quick rinse we moved to the onsen where she pulled me onto her lap while wrapping her arms around me. We sat in silence just letting the heat of the water soak in.

The entire thing was done in silence and I appreciated that. It was just two people relaxing while Saiko was there for me if I needed it. I could see why this would become a tradition. A bonding experience between mentor and student even if the bonding is caused by something horrific.

My thoughts began to slow and I realize I actually feel tired. Like I could go to sleep tired. "Sensei did you poison me?"

"Wha? Brat what are you talking about?" I can feel her indignation. Sorry my bad for destroying the moment.

"I feel tired like I could go to sleep tired. The last time that happened I woke up here."

She let out a long drawn out sigh. "Idiot, if you feel tired then go to sleep."

"Okay,' a yawn, 'thank you Saiko you're the best." I drift off to sleep the feeling of hot water and Saiko's strong arms surrounding me the last things I feel.

~Interlude~ Danzo

Reports after reports fill my desk and I methodically read them one after the other. The earlier sealing took more out of me than I would like to admit but there's no time for rest. Kumo has been venturing into occupied lands testing our response and readiness. I sent three squads to disrupt supply lines and point them at Mist. Let them bleed and die in the mist while we focus on Iwa.

Saiko flickered before me kneeling and I bark out a "Report," before going back to the frontline reports.

"Shiro displayed a distinct lack of focus after his first kill. This cleared up after reaching the bathroom and during the soak he displayed no sign of mental, emotional or physical shying away from killing based on how he reacted." A pause and then a small snort. "He did think I poisoned him after becoming tired enough to fall asleep."

I look up sharply at that. "So his bloodline does have limits. How long has it been? Two years without sleep disregarding when he was poisoned?"

"Yes Lord Danzo." I lean back considering my options. For all his skill he is still a child in many ways and I am loathe to send him on regular Root missions during a war. Too much potential for something to go wrong. Indeed I have plans for him to survive until adulthood to see if his bloodline can breed true. Maybe he can be the start of a new clan that can rise to dominance and secure Konohagakure's place at the top where it belongs.

Maybe something closer to home I muse. My mind flicks through reports and plans are set into motion. "Saiko when Shiro wakes up have him test his elemental affinity if he has a water affinity you will be sharing his with another." It's almost unnoticeable but I haven't gotten to my age by being unobservant. Saiko is feeling jealous? No more anxious than anything like a mother bird watching her chick's first flight. Good maybe Shiro will reciprocate those feelings. Another tie to the village is always good as it keeps ninja loyal and in good moral. What was not good was catching it during a formal report, a mission in itself, but I'll let it slip in favor of giving me this new information.

"You'll still see him during the night, but you'll have to change your sleep schedule of course." If anything her ramrod straight posture became even more so. Ah, embarrassed at being caught. "I of course do not care what you get up to while off duty as long as nothing you do will affect your mission performance." With that gentle reprise I dismiss her and get back to my never ending paperwork. Whoever wants to be Hokage must be mad they have to deal with even more paperwork than I do. That reminds me I'll have to set up an appointment later to seek his approval for my plan. Giving the mountain of paperwork a quick glance and having an irrational urge to light it on fire while dancing in its ashes, a quick check for genjutsu after the urge hits me, and I set off for the Hokage.

~Interlude End~

 **You have slept in a bed. Health and Chakra are restore to 100%. All status effects are removed.**

I woke up instantly. I suppose it's an effect of Gamer's Body because I've certainly never been the kind of person that can spring awake without at least 2 cups of coffee and a few choice curse words to anyone that gets between me and my drug of choice. Eh, I don't plan on sleeping again any time soon just to test this. Too much to learn, too much to do.

Thinking back to how I fell asleep I could help but feel better. Even with the forced calm the very human interaction made me feel better. I suppose that shows that I'm not a complete monster although I did feel the safest in the arms of a trained killer so I'm not sure what that tells me. I shrug it off not deeming it a true worry or concern. Doesn't mean I wouldn't say no to a repeat if the option presented itself.

Hopping out of bed and getting dressed doesn't take long. Saiko appeared as soon as I finish dressing. Here's to hoping that once my Sense Chakra finally levels up high enough I'll be able to sense where people are so they can stop surprising me by popping up. I had briefly considered trying to emulate their Chakra hiding skills but I was told in no uncertain terms by Saiko that bad things would happen to me if I did. They probably wanted to confirm that I'm loyal to the village before they teach me anything too advanced.

It's a policy I agree with in theory although I do dislike it in practice. It's also part of the reason why I don't have more offensive skills at the moment. The warnings were subtle and my request for more techniques was met harshly enough that I got the message. Focus on the basics for now and later you will be rewarded. Enough wool gathering for now let's bring it back to Earth before Saiko kicks my ass for being distracted.

"Thank you for what you did last night." I blurt out before she can start speaking.

Saiko tried to wave it off. "It was tradition brat."

"It may have been tradition but you didn't need to do it and it was nice for me. So thank you." As I said the last part I bowed from the waist. I felt Saiko's Chakra for a brief moment as I did so. It felt… bubbly before her control slammed down and I lost it.

"None of that. Now here, I have something for you." She pulls out a small strip of paper and hands it to me. "Do you know what this is?" I nod.

"Yes sensei, this is Chakra sensing paper. You channel your Chakra into it and you can tell your affinity by how it reacts. Did I get it right?"

"Yes, use it now." I reach inward and direct a small amount of Chakra through my hand, letting it flow onward into the paper. Almost immediately it became soggy enough to drip water then it suddenly splits in half like someone took a knife to it.

 **Ding! Discovered primary Water affinity with minor talent Wind affinity**

My head tilts at the display. "Saiko sensei does this mean I have two affinities?"

"Not really, it's more along the line of having a main element which you will always be better at and a secondary element that you have some talent in but you're not stuck with learning it. If you choose to pursue a different secondary element it just be a little more difficult. Except fire and earth. The fire and earth elements will be extremely difficult for you to learn and all the techniques that use it will cost more in terms of Chakra."

 **Ding! For learning the nuances of Elemental Affinity gain +1 WIS**

"Interesting." A momentary pause. "Does this mean I can start creating more offensive techniques now?" She had the gall to ruffle my head at that. I'm deadly serious woman don't make fun of me.

"Sure brat most people wait until chunin to start creating a signature or unique jutsu but you always want to run ahead of others. Now,' she switched tracks, 'Lord Danzo has a potential mission for you." I straightened and gave her my full attention.

"It's not confirmed but I believe you will be apprenticed to a jonin other than myself." My stance must have screamed confusion at that because she expanded upon it. "Your bloodline is too unique to not eventually introduce into the ninja community. In order to do that we will need to establish an identity within Konohagakure and you having an apprenticeship with an established jonin, with the full knowledge and blessing of the Hokage is key."

Ah, they want me to be a stud horse later. I'm not… opposed to the idea but I would prefer a steady partner instead of a bunch of one night stands. More emotionally filling, not that I feel anything but calm. I do have a few questions though. "I thought that when you joined Root you never left."

She tilts her head to the side as though considering the question. "I could see how you might have that assumption but it's incorrect. Lord Danzo's philosophy is about being able to have absolute control of your emotions during a mission so as to ensure that they do not interfere with it. That does not apply when you are not on a mission. You can do pretty much anything off mission as long as it does not interfere with your ability to perform said missions. Some of the Root Shinobi do take this to the extreme but most of them are volunteers from ANBU who for whatever reason joined Root. However most of the Root members have a civilian or public persona that allows them to relax when not on a mission."

That answers some of my questions but I still have more. "So are we just a branch of the ANBU then?"

She makes a so-so gesture. "Kind of. Root takes on missions that are deemed too dangerous or too vital to fail. Don't worry though all those missions are stickily voluntary. We also fill in when ANBU doesn't have enough manpower for a mission or just doesn't have assets in the area. We also, in cases like you, find and recruit exemplary talent." So kind of an axillary branch that compliments it.

"Why are you being so open about this now?" I could feel her deadpan stare through the mask. "Oh right the seal. Sorry that was dumb of me." One more question then.

"Will you still be teaching me?"

"Of course brat you're not getting rid of me that easily. When you're done with training during the day you will be escorted back to the base for more training with me." Her head tilted to the side. "Come Lord Danzo is waiting. Close your eyes if it helps."

I didn't have time to question her before everything blurred and suddenly we were kneeling in front of Lord Danzo and an old man with a ceremonial robe and hat must be Lord Hokage. My head was still spinning and my eyes were still adjusting to the sudden change in light, but I remained kneeling, waiting to be called on.

"Rise and remove your mask." An aged voice commanded me. I removed my mask, strapping it to my side with an application of Chakra, and rose to attention before them. A weary sigh rose from Sarutobi. "It seems like children are called to war ever younger as time passes. I thought the creation of Konoha was supposed to let children enjoy what little childhood they have in peace not call them to war."

"You know war is not so kind as to avoid them old friend. Besides shinobi fight so others can live in peace, even if that peace is merely an illusion or as our young shinobi put it. It is not your duty to die for the village, it is your duty to make others die for theirs." Sarutobi puffed on his pipe for a while mulling over the philosophy.

"A good philosophy for one so young. It is your wish to apprentice him to Kushina, yes?" Kushina, Naruto's mother?

"Correct. She has expressed dissatisfaction with her inability to participate in the war and I believe that having an apprentice will tie her further to the village and give her something to focus on besides the war."

"You are sure he will be able to perform his duty as a genin of the Leaf?"

"Absolutely, Lord Hokage." A slight sigh came from the Hokage.

"Very well send for Kushina Uzumaki."

 **Ding! Quest Alert The Red Hot Blooded Habanero**

 **The jailer for the Nine Tailed Fox, Kushina Uzumaki, is described as a quirky fun loving woman with a monster of a temper. Impress her enough during the meeting and she will be willing to take you on as her apprentice.**

 **Rewards: Increased learning speed for Water and Wind affinity, Kenjutsu, Taijutsu and Fuinjutsu**

Odd, no experience gain for completing the quest. Maybe it's because I'll make up for it with the training she'll give me. I also had to internally sigh. Another quest that I can't take the option not to take it. Probably because it's not one I thought up like the first one.

As we waited for her to arrive Sarutobi rubbed his wrist absently and then proceeded to work his way through the mountain of paperwork on his desk. I let myself study him as he worked taking in the greying beard and grandfatherly appearance. I knew I would never be able to study him without being caught and the momentary flash of his monstrously thick and potent Chakra let me know he caught me. Going with a casual shoulder twitch in a 'I was curious and didn't mean anything by it way', fyi ninja are freaking masters of body language, they got the message. Lord Hokage let out a grunt/chuckle as the door to his office slammed open admitting my new teacher. It was kind of sad to say I was happy being able to finally sense a jonin even if she doesn't really count. The tailed beast contained within her would make any amount of suppression worthless.

"Hey old man got a mission for me? I can do it or maybe you're letting me get into the war. I would totally destroy anything in my way. Dattebane!" At the last word she went as red as her hair and started muttering to herself. "Stupid I swore I would stop saying that. Stop it, stop it, stop it." A loud clearing of a throat cut through her rant.

"Thank you for coming so quickly Kushina. I wanted to make an offer for you that involves young Shiro here." Calm emerald eyes met sapphire blue eyes as she turned to fully look at me. It was more of a courtesy once over instead of an information gathering one although it could be one and the same if you got good enough.

"What could involve the shrimp and me?" Throughout this entire conversation I had not spoken or moved from my spot as I had not been given leave to. Kushina was a valued jonin and could get away with some things whereas I was an untested nobody with an interesting bloodline. I would not speak out of turn because the Hokage could have me executed for it. Not that I thought he would but it cost me nothing to stay quiet and potentially everything if I didn't. Huh, kind of like a real life mission.

"Young Shiro here is in need of an instructor. I was recently told that his main affinity was water and you know how rare that element is within Konoha." She nods her head reluctantly, her eyes darting back and forth between me and the Hokage.

"Just for clarification you aren't having me train him up to take on _that_ , are you?" I got to see something I thought I would never see before. Danzo and Sarutobi actually looked startled as though the thought had never even passed through their minds. It was actually Danzo who spoke next and not the Hokage.

"No." His voice was strong and commanding. "He will have nothing to do with _it_ , however knowledge of how to subdue and contain it would certainly not be unwelcome if you are willing to teach him. This would be a formal apprenticeship between you and him."

The tension leaking off of her dissipated at his words. I don't blame her I would be tense to if my superiors told me to train up the next vessel for the nine tailed fox. She turned back to me and studied me more in depth this time. I was still standing at attention waiting for permission to talk or move as she did so. "How old are you anyways?"

It took me a second to process the fact that someone is actually talking to me rather than about me yet I still waited for the slight signal from the Hokage before I spoke. "I am three years old ma'am." She let out a gasp at the confirmation of how young I was.

"Three,' she muttered to herself, 'what makes you think you're ready for my tutelage?"

"Lord Danzo must have believed me adequate enough to receive further training and Lord Hokage must agree otherwise we wouldn't be here." There were three separate snorts at my reply. Probably because it was a little cheeky. Kushina went back to studying me, or more accurately staring into my eyes searching for something. We were interrupted in our impromptu stare off by Lord Danzo speaking again.

"Shiro is correct in this regard. We do believe that he is ready for the next step in his training and his elemental affinity makes you a good choice for him. As he is now I believe he could take on and possibly come out on top of a freshly graduated genin. He's not quite as strong or as fast as one but I believe he knows more tricks and the fact he is a Sensor would help him immensely. If you choose to be his mentor the full file on him will be provided."

"A Sensor,' she breaks eye contact to look back at Danzo. Her hand flutters to her stomach. 'Does that mean you can?" She trails off at the end. A tricky question one I'm not quite sure how to answer. I look towards Lord Hokage and he motions me to answer her question.

Now how to phrase this. "Standing next to you is like standing next to the sun you shine so brightly." Her lips slightly twitch at the answer. "Yet at the same time it's like looking at the depths of an abyss. There is so much… fury and maliciousness within you. I fear that if whatever is in you is freed from its cage its rage will blot out the sun and the lands will run red with blood as it consumes everything in its path."

"It seems a sad fate to be stuck with such a being inside you. Feared by others for what you keep at bay and not respected for being what you really are. A jailer for a monster." I bowed deeply to her. "Thank you for keeping it at bay."

"Kyah." There was a feminine squeal above me and suddenly a pair of arms lift me off the ground to bury my face into her jonin jacket while they wrap me in a hug. "He's so cute being all serious. I have to have him just so I can show Mikoto and introduce him to Itachi. You're both so serious you'll get along great." All of this is said in a rush of nearly incomprehensible babble she was talking so fast.

"I'm taking him. We'll go get Ramen. You like Ramen right? Of course you do Ramen is the food of the Gods and everyone loves it. Here take the mask." She unhooked my blank mask and tossed it onto the Hokage's desk. "Thanks for the cute little apprentice old man. See you later." She threw me over her shoulder like I was a sack of flour and bolted from the room. I was so confused where was the serious Kunoichi from earlier? Had I missed the Hokage dismissing us? Oh god, did we just ditch the Hokage and Danzo? I looked back as the door was closing and mouthed 'Help me.' The last sight I saw was them chuckling.

 **Ding! Congratulations Quest Complete.**

~Interlude~ Danzo

I let myself slowly walk through the streets of Konaha letting the atmosphere of the village I had sworn to protect filter through me. The sun was drifting towards the horizon by the time I finally arrived to the Hokage's tower. The undercover ANBU secretary waved me through to the Hokage after a discrete test to see if I was who I really was. I approved of the paranoia after all the enemy is out to get you and in a time of war you can't be too safe.

My old friend was sitting at his desk working at a mountain of paperwork even higher than mine. The ceremonial hat was covering his baldness but I know it's there. God we've grown old. Letting out a sigh he reached for his pipe and lit it.

"Hello Shimura, I do hope you haven't come to be the bearer of bad news again have you?" Letting out a slight chuckle I sat down in one of the chairs facing his desk.

"Yes and no. I have news of Kumo trying to probe our borders and have sent out orders to deter them from doing so again which we can go over later. I also have more news on the most recent addition to Root, a young Shiro if you can remember my report on him." He leaned back in his chair puffing on his pipe no doubt trying to recall the report.

"The child forming Chakra strings at 1 year old?" I nod.

"I have an updated file on him here." I place the folder on his desk and he lets out a groan at the sight of even more paperwork. Letting out a slight chuckle at his antics I continue on.

"I'll go over the highlights now. From what we've seen so far we assume that his bloodline makes his body extremely adaptable. When looking at his muscular structure it's been observed by the Hyuga that his muscles break down like normal when working out but immediately after finishing they repair themselves and grow stronger for it. In addition he seems to be developing a poison immunity after his first encounter with one. He also seems immune to all forms of genjutsu and even the famed eyes of the Uchiha did nothing to him. Which the operative threw a hissy fit about later."

He openly laughs at the image of the prim and proper Uchiha's throwing a fit. I continue on. "He seems to be able to operate without the need for sleep and during a Sensor course he went without food or drink for 2 weeks with no visible sign that it affected him." I receive a dirty look for that but I can only shrug. "It wasn't meant to last that long but he didn't seem to be in any distress so I let it continue."

"Onto his Chakra spikes. We don't know exactly what's happening but we assume it's part of his bloodline adapting to the need for more Chakra and given his ability to 'eat' knowledge with his abnormally high learning speed we are left with a nearly fully trained 3 year old genin. We have also found that both his Chakra regenerates extremely quickly if he rests in a meditative state and that he heals extremely fast both of which are improving as time goes on."

A silence settles between us as Hiruzen considers all that I've told him. "I assume you have a plan then that requires my input."

"Yes I do. I don't know if it's part of his bloodline but the kid has the emotional range of some of my veteran ninjas. Calm and collected no matter what happens. Even his first kill of a bound prisoner didn't elicit more than a temporary daze which he soon recovered from.."

He frowns at that. "He's not a sociopath is he?"

"No nothing of the sort it's like his emotions are tied down and all he has left is calm acceptance. He's shown flashes of emotion but then it's replaced by calm almost immediately afterwards. To that end I wish to pair him with one of the more boisterous jonin, one Kushina Uzumaki. In addition to learning from a skilled jonin it will give him a chance to express himself as well as occupy Kushina and keep her attention away from the war."

He gives me a knowing look. "And introduce him into the village for his eventual addition into the clans of Konoha if his bloodline breeds true." I nod, no point in trying to deny it.

Hiruzen leaned back and puffed on his pipe some more. "I would like to see him for myself before I make the final decision."

"Of course I'll come back tomorrow with the results of his Chakra affinity test and we'll go from there. Now onto the Kumo matter." The rest of the meeting is spent going back and forth on measures and appropriate responses but I believe we hashed it out in the end.

The next day came all too soon and the first meeting between Shiro and Hiruzen went well in my opinion because Kushina was called for. His responses and actions were perfect for being in front of the Hokage and even when spoken to he waited for Hiruzen's permission to speak. When he did speak though we all let out a snort of disbelief. He considers himself adequate, what a joke, if he's merely adequate what are other people?

His recounting of the demon foxes Chakra and his actions afterwards were surprising yet Kushina certainly approved if her reaction was anything to go by. Both Hiruzen and I politely didn't point out her damp eyes as she ran from the room yelling about ramen of all things. The panicked look in Shiro's eyes and him mouthing 'Help me.' was just the icing on the cake. Both of us started laughing once the door closed completely. I do so love it when a plan comes together.

~Interlude End~

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 3 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 8 - 1% to next LVL**

 **HP: 590/590**

 **Chakra: 8550/8550**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 61(67.1)**

 **VIT: 59**

 **END: 63**

 **DEX: 75**

 **INT: 53(54.59)**

 **WIS: 53(54.59)**

 **LCK: 13**

 **Points: 40**

 **Money: 800**


	4. Meeting Itachi

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Traitors, leaving me to the crazy woman. As soon as the door closed the world blurred again and I was set down on a stool at some type of restaurant. I really have to learn how they're doing that I mused. "Here we are,' Kushina boisterously announced, 'Ichikaru's the greatest place on the planet." I took the time to study the place. It had a homey and welcoming atmosphere of a small family owned restaurant with a counter side view of the people cooking your food. While I had taken the time to examine my new surroundings Kushina had continued her rant about the virtues of Ramen I suddenly had a thought.

"Wait isn't it breakfast time? Why is this place even open?" She looked at me as though I had just drowned a puppy in front of her.

"Ramen doesn't adhere to such silly things like time it is eternal in its glory. Besides most restaurants run a skeleton crew at night so they're always open just in case a ninja needs something to eat. They get enough money to make it worthwhile. Anyways, Teuchi your favorite customer is here and I brought a guest." Huh, I didn't know that. Guess you learn something new every day.

"Oh, Kushina welcome back and who is this then?" An older man approached us on the opposite side of the counter. "Did you kidnap some kid?" She blushes at that then wraps an arm around my shoulder pulling me close.

"This here is my new apprentice. I just picked him up from the Hokage's office today and I thought I should introduce him to the wonders of your Ramen and get to know him a bit better while we eat." He nods along to her explanation then looks back at me.

"Well if Kushina picked you as an apprentice you can't be that bad. My name's Teuchi and I own this place. Your first bowl is free since you came with my best customer." Her arm tightens around me and I can see her grinning widely at that.

"Thank you sir. My name is Shiro." The smile on his face is genuine and contagious. He just seems like a friendly person that anyone could get along with.

"Nice to meet you Shiro. Now what can I get you today." I study the menu for a bit and then shrug. "I've never had ramen before so which would you recommend?" I hear a strangled gasp next to me as I say this. I could honestly say that because I don't think packaged ramen really counts.

What followed next was a long winded rant about what a deprived child I am not to know the wonders of Ramen before now, but worry not for your suffering is at an end. Honestly I only kept half an ear on her rant and instead opted to look around more. Dull grey underground bases might be good for hiding but they don't make the best viewing material. In the end I had 4 different styles of ramen in front of me as Kushina happily demolished her third bowl.

"Don't worry about not finishing them all I'll eat whatever you don't finish." Ah, she probably hasn't been able to look over my file yet. I don't really need to eat or use the bathroom, but when I do eat I can eat more than my entire body weight in food. It's like I have a black hole for a stomach and I never feel like I'm stuffed when I do eat that much.

I clapped my hands together and began to eat and eat and eat until the fourth bowl was completely drained and I calmly stacked it with the rest of our dirty dishes. There was silence all around me and the few customers were looking at me oddly. What? Oh, right eating that much isn't normal now is it? Dang it's hard to act normal nowadays.

"Kushina are you sure he isn't your kid and not just your apprentice?" Teuchi sniped at her.

"I think I would have noticed something like that old man." She shot right back at him. "Besides he has white hair if he was anyone's kid I would think he would be part of the Hatake clan or maybe that perverted sensei of Minato." I shrugged.

"My blood work was done and it came up inconclusive for the father but my mother was a known prostitute who died shortly after I was born." Noticing the odd looks again I shrugged. "I wanted to know so they told me." The subject was dropped and we moved on to lighter topics. Mainly a get to know each other kind of thing. What do you like to do? Hobbies? Dreams? That kind of thing.

Kushina liked to study fuinjutsu, eating Ramen and dreamed of having her own kid one day. Mine were learning new things, training and for dreams well the quest for a God's eyes flashed through my mind but in the end I decided to go undecided.

After paying for our meal Kushina disappeared in a puff of smoke after telling me to meet her at training ground 3. I just stared at the swiftly dispersing smoke numbly. How? When did she replace herself with a clone and why the fuck didn't I sense it? She feels like I'm literally sitting next to a miniature sun. Stupid showoff ninjas. A wave of calm hits me. It's not important what's important is getting to the training ground.

I turn to a man that looks like a chunin and he feels like one as well but what do I know I can't even keep track of the freaking sun. Calm. "Excuse me sir. Would you happen to know where training ground 3 is?"

"Between training grounds 2 and 4?" Was the gruff reply. Urge to kill rising. Teuchi's laughter isn't helping.

"I apologize I phrased that incorrectly. Would you be kind enough to give me directions to training ground 3?"

He simply pointed his finger and said, "10 minutes of roof hopping that way."

"Thank you kind sir." I turned to a kunoichi who had conveniently just entered the building. "Excuse me miss would you be so kind as to give me directions to training ground 3?" She gave me the same instructions as the man so it's likely to be true.

"Oh, brat what gives? Do you think I'm untrustworthy or something?"

I gave him the wide eyed doe look. "Oh no sir. I simply needed to reaffirm my faith in your truthfulness. I'm ever so glad that I can rely on you to be truthful. Well I must be going. Have a good day sir." I give a half bow to the man and walk out of the restaurant before leaping onto the rooftops. Behind me I could hear the man mutter about cheeky brats.

Konoha is a beautiful village. The buildings seem almost naturally placed between trees and other growth making it almost seem like the forest grew around the village and not the other way around. That actually might be the truth in this case as the founder of the village was able to control plant life. I can even see his face carved into the mountainside along with the two other Hokages.

It never truly hit me before now but I've grown strong. Of course I have no real chance of growing an ego with all the various ninja rubbing it into my face how much stronger they are than me, but I would never be able to hop between roofs like this before I died. The feeling of wind in my face and sensation of soaring through the air is extremely relaxing. All too soon though I arrived at my destination. Kushina was standing in clearing surrounded by trees and a small stream at the edge of it.

Kushina looked up from the papers she was reading as I landed in the clearing. She signaled me to wait a moment before finishing reading whatever was on the paper and then burning it all to ash. Dusting her hands off she finally spoke. "Well I didn't expect you to get here so quickly good job."

"Thank you sensei. Was that my file?" I didn't mention her seemingly casual abandonment at the restaurant. It was probably just a test for information gathering and time to study my file anyway. Probably… I'll give her the benefit of the doubt since Sense Chakra seems to be worthless right now and she could have been next to me the whole time.

"Yep." She sent a playful smile my way. "It would seem you vastly underestimated yourself. I've never heard of someone who figured out how to create Chakra strings at 1 called adequate."

"Ah." I shrug helplessly. "You can always improve and anyone that believes themselves to be perfect has grown stagnate and will eventually be overcome by those that kept training."

She rocked back and forth on her heels after that. "That's a good mentality to have as a ninja. Don't ever let that go but don't let it consume you either. Now, it's one thing to see a report on someone's fighting potential and another to actually experience it. So let's start on taijutsu." Clapping her hands together and assuming a relaxed position she motioned me to start.

"With or without Chakra Enhancement sensei?" I asked as I assumed my own stance which was more aggressive than her own.

"Without for now I want to see you at your base performance for right now." I nod then move forward somewhere in between a charge and a rush. A few lighter jabs aimed at her upper body were swatted aside but that was fine. I wasn't going to be trying to hit her upper body that much when I was half her height to begin with. I ducked under kick that would have hit me in the head.

Kicking at her planted leg's knee proved fruitless as she somehow reversed her own kick taking me in the side and sending me sprawling. Lucky I had rolled with it but it still felt like being hit with a bat. Damn jonin are insanely strong. My stance was no less firm than before yet it had taken on a more defensive positioning. Kushina took this as a sign to advance and we clashed once more.

The sparring lesson lasted for another 30 or so minutes before she called a stop to it and made me do a short cool down for another 10 minutes or so before she motioned me to sit next to her. I noticed that there was not a hint of sweat on her brow as I sat next to her. Unfortunately I was not so gifted and I had a light sheen going on. Of course resting for a minute or so washed any tiredness I was feeling away.

"Okay from what I've seen so far your taijutsu has a pretty good foundation and you have a decent grasp on Chakra enhancement when I told you to start using it. Excellent stamina and recovery but you already knew that. Decent tactics against a stronger opponent and you went for vulnerabilities when presented the opportunity. That's the good part now for the bad. The lack of reach is impeding you from gaining the most out of your fighting style. Nothing we can really do about that until you grow up some more. Second, your entire fight was too textbook and simple to read if you knew the leaf taijutsu that is taught in the academy. Don't worry we'll see about mixing up your repertoire so it isn't so basic. Other than that it is great for where you're at right now."

"Now if you feel up for it could you demonstrate what you know?" I have no problem with that so I nod. I show her everything from using basic ninja tools, to chakra exercises, basic ninja skills(stealth, survival, code breaking), to active chakra techniques. She remained mostly impassive for the display except for when twenty objects began to float around me from my Chakra strings.

"That's awesome, dattebane." Face turning red at her outburst she never the less plowed onward. "Can you move while using this?"

"Not really. If I move anything faster than a walk I lose my concentration and I can't keep it going at least not with this many strings going."

"Still that's amazing." She paused as though to gather her thoughts. "Okay I've seen your skills and where you are right now but I need a few days to fully hash out your full training schedule." Another pause. "I'll also have to work around the fact that you'll also be receiving training at night from your first sensei since you lack the need for sleep." A grumble, "Which is total bullshit."

I don't think I was meant to hear that. "So the lessons might overlap which if they do speak up and I'll quiz you on the topic instead of lecturing you. I don't really have anything else for you today because this was kind of sprung on me but maybe we can start you on water manipulation."

Reaching over she picked up two leaves and gave one to me. "Now watch closely this is the basic water training exercise. Take a leaf and drain the moisture from it like so." The green leaf became shriveled and brittle as all the moisture left it. "Now you try. Don't worry about getting it on your first try its quite a bit harder than it looks."

Looking down at the leaf in my hand I reached out and surrounded it with my Chakra. I could feel every part of the leaf now but what to do next. I spent what must have been a minute or two trying to replicate the feel of Kushina's chakra as she drained the leaf when suddenly it clicked.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Water Manipulation (Passive) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and water chakra as well as the manipulation of water.**

 **Decreases cost of all water techniques by 0.25%**

 **Increases control of water by 1%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.1%**

 ***Learned Water Leaf exercise (Active 10(8.75)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to water chakra and back again by 5%.**

It took another 5 minutes before my leaf was a brittle and dry as Kushina's. I presented it back to her and she was frozen. I waved my hand in front of her face as she just continued to stare at my crumbling leaf. Not even a full day and I've broken my new sensei. Actually I think this happened with Saiko as well. Oh, right that's when she called me a monster. Good times.

"Holy shit." Broken out of my thoughts I looked at Kushina who was vigorously rubbing her forehead as though she had a headache. "Reading about it one thing but you just learned something that takes weeks to fully learn in a minute." So deadpan I'm hurt. Nah, not really.

"I would have learned it faster if you had written down how to do the technique. My bloodline would have 'eaten' the knowledge and I would have been able to do it instantly."

"What?" She nearly shouted. "You have a bloodline like that?" Instantly I tensed up. That should have been in my file. She realized it as well by the widening of her eyes and a blur of speed as her hands moved. I was already moving trying to avoid whatever technique was coming my way, even knowing it was pointless, before a clone appeared next to Kushina.

The clone disappeared and she let out a snort at my actions before patting the ground next to her. "Sit back down brat if I wanted to kidnap you I would have down it by now."

I felt sheepish at my actions now but better safe than dead and it did seem like she was a spy that thought the gig was up. "Just to be sure. I don't know if you can duplicate Chakra signatures but what was the thing I said to you when you found out I was a Sensor."

She rolled her eyes at that but said, "Paranoia is a good thing to have but don't take it too far. The thing you said was that I felt like the sun with an abyss of fury and maliciousness. Now sit back down you're hurting your poor sensei's feelings being so suspicious of her." I made my way back over to her and sat down.

"For your information Chakra signatures can't be faked. They can be suppressed or hidden but not changed. To do that you would need to fundamentally change who you are suddenly and completely. Now isn't this the best way to start a relationship. First day that I met you and you've given me a massive headache and together we uncovered a mole with the ability to steal A-rank secrets from the Hokage's office." I think she might be bipolar with how quickly she can switch from being serious to happy.

"Shouldn't we be doing something?" I ask, shifting from side to side.

"I am doing something. Right now I'm approaching the Hokage with a priority message and he's going to quietly lockdown the city. From there it'll be a mole hunt. TI and the Yamanaka Clan will be working overtime for the duration of the hunt." My head tilts to the side at the clan name. Where have I heard that before?

"Yamanaka Clan?"

She waves her hand dismissively. "A clan of mind readers. Oh, a bit of warning for you that you might not have gotten from not going to the Academy. If you recreate a jutsu that a specific clan uses you'll have to pay a fine and disciplinary action based on what it is. If you're caught trying to recreate the Yamanaka Clan's jutsu it's the immediate death penalty and you're declared a traitor." Wow that's harsh yet at the same time a bunch of mind readers in a world where information is the difference between life and death I can see why that would be the case.

I suddenly felt four Chakra signatures flare up at the edge of my range then flicker in some sort of code. Kushina flickered back and I stared at her with a quizzical expression. "It's code for all clear, incoming friendlies and I just acknowledged it. Chunin and above are taught it." I nodded and made a mental note to get Saiko to teach me it. Speaking of Saiko I felt her Chakra land in the clearing with us.

"Hello sensei." Her response was a flick on the forehead.

"Brat I stayed up all night just so I could change my sleep schedule for you and not an hour after I go to bed I get woken up and told you uncovered a mole with the ability to take A-rank secrets." A long put upon sigh. "On your first day as an official shinobi as well."

"Ah, as a super awesome kunoichi you don't need things like beauty sleep and that totally wasn't my fault."

"Beauty sleep?" I can feel the raised eyebrow and my man senses start tingling. I guess that expression isn't known here. Quick backpedal.

"Yeah you know 8-10 hours of sleep so you feel ready to go and prettier. You don't need it though because you're always pretty and you're super strong as well." Kushina is starting to chuckle behind me.

"What? Where did that come from? Uzumaki what have you been teaching Shiro? It's only been 2 hours since you've had him and he's already this cheeky."

"I didn't teach him anything but the leaf water exercise, which he got down in a minute, everything else is all him. My, he'll be such a hit with the ladies when he's older if he keeps this up." She said with a coyish grin.

"It's true though."

"Brat, you've seen my face once."

"And it was beautiful." Throwing her hands to the sky as though beseeching for help she quickly changed the subject while Kushina was openly laughing now.

"Here catch," A metallic glint sped through the air and I snagged it before it could impact my face. Unwrapping the clothe revealed a metallic forehead protector with the symbol of the leaf on it. "Uzumaki left before the Hokage could give this to you. I'll be back at 9 to pick you up for your training. You'll get it then brat." With an evil chuckle Saiko and the other three vanished leaving Kushina and I alone in the clearing. I didn't mind I'd felt her Chakra and for all that she seemed to be trying to brush it off it made her happy.

I stared down at the simple piece of metal and clothe after they left with one burning question that I had to ask. "Why is this thing so shiny? Are they trying to get genin killed?" A hand ruffled my hair as Kushina came down from her giggling fit.

"It's a test that 90% of genin fail and their sensei doesn't let them go out into the field without dimming the metal. They all see proof of their becoming ninja and not the impracticality of their new toy. So congratulations you passed the test with flying colors." She ruffled my hair again and I ineffectively tried to stop it.

"We'll do that soon enough but for now let's go meet one of my friends Mikoto Uchiha and her son Itachi. He's the same age as you are and I think having a friend or a rival would help you. Now tie that headband on and follow me."

Kushina set a brutal, for me, pace out of the clearing and back into the city. As we entered the city we came to a stop and started walking through the streets instead of roof hopping. She must have known my next question because she started talking. "Rooftops are off limits when the village goes on lockdown unless you have urgent business or you're an ANBU. It's too much of a hassle to get questioned if we do take the rooftops so we're walking."

"We have urgent business?"

"Of course we're going to go see my friend." She exclaimed. I felt the need to face plant but continued walking with only a slight twitch. That's not what I would call urgent business but whatever.

The walk took another 30 minutes or so before we arrived at a large walled off area with a gate that was manned by two guards. "Heyo." Kushina let out a large cheer at the sight of them. I swear I saw them both flinch.

"Ah, Uzumaki. Not going to skip the check in and just jump over the wall this time?" Wow I didn't know such pomp could exist in a tone.

"Nope. I have a cute little apprentice now so I'm showing him the stupid slow way into the compound and not the fast and easy way." The guard's gazes flickered to me and I was regarded as one might regard a particularly poison snake suddenly appearing next to them.

"You have an apprentice." The one on the left tested each word as they left his mouth as though he never thought such a sentence could be formed. The one on the right just started to blankly stare at the sky.

Kushina continued on as though unaware of the state they were in. "Yep. Now Shiro the first thing you need to know about the Uchiha is that almost all of them have a log jammed up their asses that is so big people have been known to use the replacement jutsu with it. So in order to help these poor, poor people we prank them to try to dislodge that log and make them smile."

I played along nodding eagerly with wide attentive eyes. I was having fun freaking out the guards. "I don't have much experience with pranking people but I'll do my best sensei." The one on the right pulled out a flask of some sort and started drinking. Snatching it out of his hands the left most one gave him a glare and started drinking as well.

"Please just go." The right most one said as he tried to grab his flask back. We went on through as it devolved into a fight. We actually made it out of hearing range before Kushina just started laughing hysterically. "Hahaha, did you see their faces. Hehe, snort, we got them to start drinking on duty. Good job Shiro." She continued laughing all the way to our destination and I even cracked a small smile. The Uchiha took one look at the laughing Kushina and gave us a wide berth with wary glances continually sent our way.

When we arrived at what I assumed was our destination a long dark haired woman with black eyes and a purple blouse standing in the doorway of a rather large house. A smile was gracing her lips as she spoke. "Kushina what's got you in such a good mood?"

"Heya Mikoto. My apprentice and I just played a prank on the guards to the compound. It was great they started drinking before we even left." An eyebrow was raised.

"Yep." She pulled me close. "This little brat is Shiro and he's my apprentice. Only a shinobi for 2 hours and we uncovered a mole stealing A-rank secrets." The second eyebrow joined the first.

"I see." Was her reply as she focused on me. "Well it is a pleasure to meet you Shiro. My name is Mikoto Uchiha. Please refer to me as Mikoto."

I think I missed something in that exchange but I never figured out woman even before I died and I'm not even going to attempt it for a kunoichi. "It is a pleasure Mikoto." I said with a half bow.

"Oh such a polite young man. How old are you?" She turned to Kushina. "And I also should have known you would be at the center of a village lock down Kushina."

She sputtered out denials as I answered. "Three ma'am."

"My so young. The same age as Itachi and already a shinobi. I suppose you brought him here so they could meet."

Kushina nods. "I thought it would be good for him to meet someone his own age and maybe they could start a friendship or even a rivalry."

She looks thoughtful before motioning us into the house. "Of course. Itachi is in the back garden practicing his shuriken. Please come in." We entered and removed our sandals for the guest ones that were provided. The house itself was spotless and had a very comforting feel to it. Sliding open the screen door we were greeted with the sight of a very orderly garden with a small pool in one corner along with a section that seemed set up for exercising.

An approximately 1 meter tall boy was standing up range of the wooden targets and flicking shurikens downrange. I could see he had the technique down now all he had to do was work on his accuracy. "Itachi there is someone here to see you." He threw one last shuriken then turned to look at us. His dark onyx eyes met my emerald ones as we studied each other. The moment passed and he quickly made his way over to our group.

"Itachi this is Shiro. He's the apprentice of Kushina." He bowed slightly to Kushina first then turned to face me.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Shiro. My name is Itachi Uchiha. Please call me Itachi." He bowed again and I returned it.

"It is a pleasure my name is Shiro, no last name."

"You're both so cute when you're being all serious. Go show him your shurikenjutsu Itachi while I entertain Kushina." We both nod at that and go back over to the training posts.

"So you're a shinobi then. How old are you?"

"Three." I answer while gathering stray shuriken into a pile.

"I see. You must be talented to be a shinobi at our age." I shrug absently.

"I believe myself adequate but others seem to disagree. Would you like any help with your shurikenjutsu?" He pauses for a moment considering and then nods. "Show me how you throw them." Picking up a pile of five he pauses then throws them in rapid succession each landing with a solid thump in the wooden post. All five are grouped together but to the right of center. Precise but not accurate. "Again." Five more shuriken fly with similar results.

"Each time you threw one you held onto it too long. That's why it's landing to the right. Here watch my wrist and when I'm releasing it." I throw the first one with exaggerated slowness to let him see then let loose the other four much faster each finding their mark in the center of the post. "Now try again." I hand him the last set of five.

Taking hold of them he flings the first one and it hits slightly right of the center but not as far right as before. "Again release sooner." A nod and another thump sees a shuriken just to the left of center. "Good now find the middle." The shuriken flies and hits dead center. "Again." The last two shurikens also find their way to the center. "Excellent you found your balance. You're a quick learner."

"You're a good teacher." He says humbly as he moves to go collect the shuriken but stops when all twenty pull free from the posts and float back over to us. "How are you doing that?" I hear a choking sound and look over to see Kushina pounding Mikoto on the back, a set of tea between them. Eh, she'll be fine.

I made the twenty strings go visible. "An application of Chakra shaping called Chakra strings." He studies them for a bit.

"They seem useful."

"They are." A flick and 8 shurikens fly towards the post smacking into it and creating a smiley face.

"Is there anything else you're working on?"

"There is. I've recently learned the fire leaf exercise. It involves slowly burning a leaf but I'm having some trouble with it. It took me a few hours before it would stop bursting into flames but you took far less time to complete your leaf exercise didn't you?"

I tilt my head to the side. "How did you know?"

He carelessly shrugged. "Most people get all excited about it when I tell them. Your posture didn't change like it was no big deal."

"I apologize. I don't mean to seem arrogant or rude."

"No you weren't you just seemed unsurprised by it. So how long did yours take and what element are you?"

I hesitate for a moment before replying. "It took me a minute and water." Mikoto is choking on her tea again. You would think she would know how to drink liquids without choking by now.

"If you would,' a leaf floats in front of him, 'I might be able to help. In return I can show you the water leaf exercise as well." He nods and takes the leaf. I concentrate on it as I feel his Chakra turn to fire and start slowly burning the leaf. Suddenly he loses control of it and with a whoosh it burns to ash. I think I got it. Saiko said fire would be difficult for me but the leaf in my hand starts to smolder.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Fire Manipulation (Passive) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and fire chakra as well as the manipulation of fire.**

 **Decreases cost of all fire techniques by 0.25%**

 **Increases control of fire by 1%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.1%**

 ***Learned Fire Leaf exercise (Active 30(25.5)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to fire chakra and back again by 5%.**

Hm, no reaction from the peanut gallery this time. I studied the display a bit. So a 300% increase in chakra consumption. That's not too bad but I probably won't focus on it too much for now. The leaf finishes smoldering and I nod in satisfaction. "Okay I recommend surrounding the leaf with your chakra and trying to only convert one portion of the chakra covering the leaf to fire instead of converting it all and trying maintain control at the same time. That way you're working on one issue at a time instead of two. Try it now." He did so and he managed to smolder through the whole leaf without it bursting into flames. Immediately afterwards he gave me a bow.

"Thank you for your help sensei." Oh, sensei that feels weird. It's making me all flustered.

"Ah, no problem but don't call me sensei we're the same age. I'd rather be called a friend instead." I stuck out my hand and after a moment he grasped it.

"Friends?"

"Friends."

~Interlude~ Mikoto

Watching Itachi being so serious as he trains makes my heart flutter. I just want to go over there, wrap him in a hug and snuggle with him he's so cute. A sigh escaped my lips. They just grow up so fast sometimes and Fugaku isn't helping by pushing him to succeed. I know he'll be the clan head one day but I just want my baby boy to be happy.

Suddenly I sense what seems like the whole village spring into motion. Tense muscles tighten waiting to spring into action if need be before a Chakra coded pulse hits me and I relax marginally. Internal affair nothing to be too concerned about. Spending the next bit of time hovering near Itachi just in case I felt Kushina's Chakra coming towards me. With a smile on my face I go to greet her.

She's laughing hysterically at something that happened, probably a prank, judging her and yep it was a prank. 'Really.' She's totally unrepentant as usual. Her next words startle me though. Apprenticeship? A-rank secret? He has a bloodline and the information got stolen.

I give my full attention to the boy next to her. The brightest green eyes I've ever seen stare back at me and ruffled white hair sits atop his head. I can see the Konoha headband tied around his left arm and his clothes are nondescript gray and black. He moves too fluidly for anything but a trained dancer or a shinobi and I don't see a hint of baby fat on him. He can't be much older than my Itachi if anything and his answer confirms it. Feeling a well of sadness spring up at that I welcome them inside. He seems so serious and focused. Everything a shinobi should be but nothing like a child.

I excuse myself to go make tea. They don't interact like children. They should be laughing and playing not comparing throwing techniques. Returning with the tea I start probing Kushina for information about Shiro. Oddly, for her, she's quite tight lipped about it. Taking a sip of my tea I'm just in time to see Shiro form 20 Chakra strings out of nowhere. The tea goes down wrong and I start choking while Kushina pounds my back. I give her a glare. This is why she's being so stingy with information just to get a reaction out of me. Her knowing smile is annoying.

Resolving not to react fails me almost instantly when Shiro said he figured out the water leaf exercise in a minute. Choking once again on the tea I ignore Kushina's wide grin like a polite host as I fill her cup back up. We both freeze and stare when Shiro completes the fire leaf exercise in less than 30 seconds. A hiss of pain and I unfreeze to see the cup was overflowing. Quickly I stop pouring and try to check on her but she waved it off. We finish up just in time to see them shake hands and proclaim themselves friends.

That's so cute my little Itachi made a friend.

~Interlude End~

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 3 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 8 - 1% to next LVL**

 **HP: 590/590**

 **Chakra: 8559/8559**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 61(67.1)**

 **VIT: 59**

 **END: 63**

 **DEX: 75**

 **INT: 53(54.59)**

 **WIS: 53(54.59)**

 **LCK: 13**

 **Points: 40**

 **Money: 800**

 **Water Manipulation (Passive) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and water chakra as well as the manipulation of water.**

 **Decreases cost of all water techniques by 0.25%**

 **Increases control of water by 1%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.1%**

 ***Water Leaf exercise (Active 10(8.75)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to water chakra and back again by 5%.**

 **Fire Manipulation (Passive) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and fire chakra as well as the manipulation of fire.**

 **Decreases cost of all fire techniques by 0.25%**

 **Increases control of fire by 1%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.1%**

 ***Fire Leaf exercise (Active 30(25.5)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to fire chakra and back again by 5%.**


	5. Inventory Opens

Itachi and I sat across from each other in peaceful silence as we each focused on our respective elements. I slowly drained the leaf of water and he burned his to ash. The only real difference was that I was sitting half a meter off of the ground while he merely sat on the ground like a scrub. Maybe I should clarify a bit I was using Chakra strings to hold me half a meter above ground. With my regeneration of 54 Chakra/min I could literally do this forever. Some would call it cheating I would call it gittin gud.

When Itachi's Chakra got low enough he stopped burning his pile of leaves and went back to working on his shurikenjutsu. I had asked him before he started if he wanted a moving target to practice on and when he agreed I used my strings to pick up one of the conveniently placed logs and moved it around. The sounds of clinking metal or the thump of a successful hit filled the garden. The minutes bled into hours and Itachi started to do katas for taijutsu.

It looked like a very reactive style of combat and I really didn't see myself being able to use it properly. From what my inexperienced eye could see it seemed to have a lot of holes that could be exploited but that could be from his inexperience or they were covered later.

 **Ding! Water Leaf Exercise reached max level.**

What? Already, it's only been like half a day. I looked over my skills and sure enough it was fully leveled with Water manipulation having gone up to level 5 in the process. How did that… Oh, right the quest with Kushina being my mentor. Didn't it say I would have and increased experience gain for my water element. I looked back and sure enough there it was. Still that's insane for leveling a skill. Maybe I should ask for the next level of training. I thought about it for a moment then decided against it.

"Hey Itachi."

"Yes."

"Would you like to spar with me?" He stopped his kata and nodded.

"Alright then." I hopped down from my floating position and walked over to him. "Fight until down or yield." He nodded and we made the sign of confrontation then we lowered into our stances. As I thought Itachi was waiting for me to make the first move. I obliged and led with a low kick at roughly half speed to see his reaction speed.

He stepped into the kick as he moved at a slightly faster speed taking the hit on the meaty part of his leg instead of his knee. I had to really pull back before I connected as I wasn't sure how well he could take a hit throwing me off balance. Capitalizing on my mistake his right hand shot forward like a knife for my throat. A hasty block diverted it to the side and away from my neck. A retaliatory straight punch at his chest saw him bending over backwards into a handstand as a foot zoomed for my face.

He really likes targeting my head area I mused as I took a page from his book and stepped into the blow. It caught me in my right shoulder but it was worth it because I captured his leg. A quick kick to his arm and he was down on the ground. I helped him off the ground and then we were at it again.

I can truthfully say this with no amount of envy that Itachi is amazing. If I didn't have this ability he would have left me in the dust long ago. As it was I could tell that if something didn't change he would be my better in taijutsu. I just didn't seem to have some vital spark for it even with my power. The difference that separates a master from a grandmaster. That was just fine with me though. So what if I never became world class in taijutsu I'm far more drawn to sharp things and ninjutsu. That's where I'll shine.

The spar continued and I could see him getting faster and faster. More able to pick me apart piece by piece. That is not to say that I wasn't improving as well he was just improving faster than I was. At the end we both made the seal of reconciliation covered in sweat, dust and a few bruises which were fading for me.

"Thank you for that Itachi. It's hard to find people my size that can put up a good fight and the way that you can improve like that on the fly was amazing."

"You were improving as well as holding back." He pointed out.

"Yes I wasn't using my full speed but don't try to diminish your accomplishments. That was an excellent spar."

"I agree." A man's voice spoke from right behind me. I whirled around cursing the fact that my Chakra sense skill seems so worthless at actually keeping me aware of people around me. A younger man in a standard shinobi garb with the addition of the Konoha Military Police symbol on his jacket along with onyx eyes and brown hair was standing there.

"Good evening Father." Ah, the Uchiha clan head. He looks like a stern no nonsense kind of guy.

"Good evening Lord Uchiha. It is a pleasure to meet you." I gave a formal bow.

"None of that right now Shiro. While in my house I prefer to let go of more formal behavior unless the situation calls for it. I am Fugaku Uchiha. Please call me Uchiha. I've been talking with my wife while you spared and I must say you must have an exceptional talent to be called to duty at such a young age."

"I merely call myself adequate for now yet others seem to think otherwise." I shrugged. He seemed to study me for a moment.

"I find that you truly believe that. How peculiar? Never the less both you and your sensei are invited to dinner with us tonight." I looked over at Kushina and she nodded.

"We would be delighted to accept your hospitality for tonight." I gave another bow.

"Good. Itachi can show you the bath so you can both get cleaned up before dinner. Don't worry about your clothes they will be washed before you get out." He turned around and started walking back towards Kushina and Mikoto. Itachi pulled on my sleeve and led me back into the house to the bath.

We stepped into the small room right before the bath and as I began disrobing I noticed Itachi was as well. "What are you doing?"

"Preparing to take a bath." He sounded confused.

"People take baths together?" Every time but once after I killed someone I've bathed alone and I thought that was a special occasion.

"Do they not?" We both stared at each other in confusion before I shrugged my shoulders and continued taking off my clothes.

"Your house, your rules." That minor cultural misunderstanding over we headed into the bath proper where there was already a pool of steaming water waiting for us. I couldn't help but also notice some ugly bruises that were forming on his leg and lower back.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to hit you quite so hard." I said as I indicated the bruises.

"It's fine I got you as well." We both looked down at the large one on my stomach. Of course as soon as we did it healed over leaving nothing but unblemished skin.

"Oh, wow would you look at that ninja magic at work." I laugh awkwardly. His stare is so deadpan it hurts. "I'm just going to get cleaned up now." Thankfully the rest of the bath wasn't so awkward. Indeed it was very relaxing sitting in a pool of warm water with someone else. We soaked in the water until Itachi's mom called us for dinner and I regretfully left the water's embrace.

Entering the small front room before the bath I found all my clothes neatly folded and washed. I put everything back on, all weapons in place, even though I didn't quite know the etiquette of bringing weapons to the table. I'll have to ask Kushina before I actually sit down. Itachi led me to a large dining area where Kushina and Fugaku where already sitting down. I made my way over to Kushina while Itachi made his way into the kitchen.

"Sensei, what's the protocol for weapons after being invited to dinner." She takes a glance at my two kunai bandoliers and the subtle shift of cloth in my sleeves before talking.

"People never really expect other ninja to be unarmed and it's true. As long as it's not obtrusively in your face like carrying a sword to the dinner table small weapons like you're carrying are fine just don't use them."

Nodding along with her explanation I do have one question. "Never?"

"Never." She said with a small smile. How? Seals maybe or do they stick them in uncomfortable places. I shudder at the thought of getting hit by a literal shitty kunai. Before I can get her to expand on this Mikoto and Itachi entered with five steaming bowls of food. We all sat down and clapped our hands together before we began eating.

It was great compared to the usual food they feed me. It was some kind of beef rice bowl with fried egg. I ate it with unusual gusto as I listened with half an ear as Fugaku told us about his day. Apparently the entire police force had been out today and guarding all exits from the village as it went into lockdown. Like rats fleeing a sinking ship they had caught 5 people trying to flee and 1 poor fool trying to enter during a lockdown. As head of one of the major clans he had also been informed of 3 separate arrests of spies and a traitor. 9 people were going to be tortured and pumped for all their information then killed because one of them had done a shitty job at stealing information. It might have still gone unnoticed if I hadn't casually mentioned a portion of my bloodline to Kushina.

Hm, have I mentioned this food is great? I could see both Kushina and Mikoto glancing at me after Fugaku told us about the 9 people, probably to see if I was disturbed by it or something but I literally couldn't be so nothing to see here gals. Besides compared to directly killing someone this was an order of magnitude easier to deal with. Wow, that makes me sound like a sociopath. I let off the vibe that it didn't bother me and now they both just seem kind of sad.

Mikoto gave me another portion which I tried to refuse, it's not like I need it or anything, but in the end I relented. I finished that as well then I put my foot down when she tried to give me another. Woman I could eat you out of house and home leave it. The meal ended and Fugaku begged off saying he had paperwork to finish while Kushina and Mikoto left us behind with a set of Go.

We sat there and played until they came back with a tea set. Politely thanking them we continued playing.

 **Ding! Gained +1 INT**

Huh, I can gain stats like this as well? Nice. I calmly sipped my tea as I felt two sets of eyes burning into my back. They probably felt my chakra spike as I gained more. This is really good tea I'll have to get some of this later.

The day continued and while I didn't gain anymore stats or levels I still thought it was a good day. I didn't know how tense I was from just continually training until I took a little break like this one. I would still prefer to be doing something more than just relaxing but it's not a bad thing to do from time to time.

Eventually it became late enough that it was time to leave. The entire Uchiha family gathered in the entryway to see us off.

"Thank you for extending your hospitality to us today and for dinner. I hope to extend the same when I can." I gave a full bow to Fugaku and Mikoto. "Itachi it was an interesting day. I will try to see you again soon. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Shiro." We left the house and went out through the compound gate where there were two different guards manning the post.

"Where to now sensei?" She looked up at the rapidly setting sun before answering.

"My house I think. It'll be too dark to do any real training soon and your other sensei won't pick you up for another 2 hours or so." She led me through the streets for about 20 minutes or so before we came to a smaller two story house with a small yard. "Put your hand here." I did so and I could feel a small prick on my hand.

Lifting my hand up I saw a small drop of blood on it. "What just happened?"

"That was me keying you into the sealing array around my house. If I didn't bad things would have happened to you. Come on inside then." Interesting.

The inside was cozy if a little small. Off to my immediate left I could see a kitchen and dining area with a staircase on my right and a hallway straight ahead. "Well this is home. Take your sandals off and come into the living area." She led me towards the kitchen which apparently functioned as a kitchen, dining and living room area. The couch was soft and plush as I sat down.

"Do you need anything?"

"No sensei, although I did complete the water leaf exercise. Is there any chance I could get the next step tonight?" She muttered something under her breath that I didn't catch.

"Sorry not today. It involves drawing water from the ground and making a puddle. I don't want to destroy my lawn and you can't really do it inside so sorry not right now. I'll teach you it tomorrow though." That's disappointing but I can handle it.

"Can I make Chakra strings and meditate then?"

"Sure just don't damage my walls." Strings latch onto the walls and I start floating in air.

"I won't sensei." She mutters something again and leaves me to it. I fall into a meditative state easily and time loses its meaning until the front door being opened drew me from my state. A younger man with spikey blond hair and blue eyes entered. He was wearing standard jonin attire and standing behind him was a small boy. The boy also wore the standard chunin attire yet he also had a half face mask with spikey silver hair and grey eyes.

We all stared at each other, them in the doorway, myself hovering above the ground. The blond one spoke first. "Ah, you're not here to try to kill us are you?" The shear ridiculousness of that statement drew a snort from me. Me able to kill them? Not a chance unless they lost all their limbs and even them I think they would find a way to bite me to death. The blond one's chakra isn't even there so he's a jonin and the silver haired one's chakra in blurry like he's learning to hide it so almost a jonin.

"Not unless you're a traitor. My name is Shiro and I'm Kushina's apprentice. Judging by the fact you can get into the house you must know her somehow."

A slight chuckle. "You could say that." There was a loud thump from upstairs and then a blur of red as she slammed into him.

"Minato, I thought your team wasn't getting back for another two days?" She gave him a kiss.

"It was easier than expected so we were able to complete it faster. Anyways what's this about an apprentice?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah this is Shiro I just got him today and he's 3 years old and amazing. On his first day we uncovered a mole with the ability to steal A-rank secrets and 9 people got caught from it after the village went into lockdown. Then he figured out how to do the water leaf exercise and fire leaf exercise in two minutes and mastered the first in half a day while we went to go see Mikoto and Itachi." All this was said in a rapid fire pace that left me barely able to keep up but Minato and the other guy seemed to be used to it.

A hand on her mouth stopped the flow of words. "That's great honey but we still haven't been introduced yet."

"Oh, hehe, yeah my bad. Shiro,' I let the strings fade and dropped down to the ground, 'this is girly looking man is Minato Namikaze and this guy that could pass for your brother is Kakashi Hatake." I gave a half bow.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both I…" I stopped in mid-sentence as I felt Saiko's chakra flare up outside the house. "I'm sorry to cut this short but it would seem my escort is here, please excuse me. Goodbye Kushina sensei I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow at training ground three at 8." I nod as I put on my sandals and leave the house. Saiko appears next to me and places a hand on my shoulder while the world blurs. As it stops I'm greeted by the familiar sight of drab grey walls and Saiko releases my shoulder.

"What did you learn today?" I tell her everything and she's gotten so used to my weirdness that she doesn't even flinch at how fast I learned and mastered the water leaf exercise. "Well isn't that great how you had such a fun relaxing day while I ran across the entirety of Fire country relaying new orders after the breach was found and plugged." Is that bitterness I detect sensei.

"I'm going to be entirely honest. I'm dead tired and cranky about having to train you right now so be prepared for that."

"Ah, wait before we start training Kushina mentioned how a ninja is never not armed. What did she mean by that?" A long sigh.

"You should have figured this out. A ninja's body is a weapon just as much as a kunai is but if you meant in the tool sense then most kunoichi carry senbon in their hair while shinobi need to be a bit more inventive."

"Oh, I thought I could get a seal or something that could hide…" I trail off and stare blankly at the wall behind Saiko.

"What is it brat?"

"I can't really explain it could I just show you?"

"Is it dangerous?" I shake my head and she considers for a moment. "Go ahead."

Taking out a kunai I mentally call up my long unused inventory and stick it in. The kunai disappears from my hand and I can see it take up a box in my inventory.

"What did you just do?"

"I think I placed the kunai in a hidden space only I can access."

"Take it back out." I reach out and the kunai pops back into my hand. I look over at Saiko and she's hunched over.

"Brat did you just invent a space-time ninjutsu just so you could hide things?" She sounds like a parent that has resigned herself to dealing with her problem child.

"Maybe?" There was a moment of silence and the she started to laugh. It wasn't a haha kind of laugh either it sounded crazier than that.

"A three year old invents a space-time ninjutsu within one day because he wants to hide things. What is the world coming to?" She regains control over herself then lets out a long drawn out sigh. "One of these days you're going to make me go crazy. Let's go to Lord Danzo and explain your new found talent." She led me through the underground maze and then knocked on a section of wall.

"Enter." The wall slid down and I saw Lord Danzo behind a desk filled with paperwork. We walked before his desk and knelt. "What is it?"

Saiko spoke up. "Shiro has revealed a space-time ninjutsu that can be used to store items and retrieve them."

"What?" Lord Danzo's voice was filled with disbelief. "Show me."

I slowly grabbed a kunai from my pouch and pushed it into the inventory. His eye widened then narrowed. "Ko, what did you see?" Another shinobi appeared kneeling next to us.

"I saw a slight distortion in the air when the kunai disappeared yet his chakra did not show signs of use and no genjutsu was used. The kunai is no longer in this room and I cannot see it anywhere." He nodded slowly.

"Bring it back." I did so.

"I saw the same things as before and that is definitely the same kunai."

"Dismissed." Ko disappears from my senses.

"Could you teach this to others?" I think for a moment then shake my head.

"I apologize Lord Danzo but this feels instinctual like it is part of my bloodline. Others could try to copy it but as Ko said I don't feel like I'm using Chakra to do this and there are no hand signs involved. It just feels like a part of me." He lets me kneel there for a while as he considers the information.

"Why did this not occur before now?"

"I had no desire to hide items before."

"I see." Lord Danzo seemed to mull over everything that had happened.

"I should have let you go outside more often if this is what happens. Your first day outside and we catch 9 spies and traitors while you return with an undetectable space to hide items. Saiko test his ability for the rest of tonight then get some rest. Both of you are dismissed."

We bow and exit. Both of us are silent on the way back to the training room. Once we get there I have to ask Saiko something that I wanted to say. "Saiko did I do a bad thing by having this ability?"

She stops and ruffles my hair. "No, it might have been bad if you had created it but since it was part of your bloodline we can't really hold it against you. Just promise me to try not to pop out any more space-time ninjutsu they're extremely dangerous to create and usually deadly."

"I'll try not to but hey you said I could create my own techniques now and then this happened without even trying. Just think of what my technique will be like when I try." I exclaim cheerfully.

I could actually see her shudder at that. "Just… just try not to destroy Konoha when you do alright?"

"Of course I wouldn't do that I like it here and you're here as well." She mutters something and then straightens.

"Alright time to test this ability." A block of stone rises up from the floor. "Try to put this in."

Testing my inventory was useful. In the end I found out it perfectly preserved food at the same temperature it was put in. It had a limit of 50x50 cm to the size of what could be put in but larger items could be sealed in a scroll and put in without a problem. Dead things worked fine but anything that was alive came back dead. Poor mister mousy you gave your life FOR SCIENCE! Oh, and we couldn't seem to find a limit to the amount of things that I could put in which was nice. Now I could do the age old videogame tradition of looting everything.

It took several hours of extensive testing but after that Saiko declared it done for now. Before we could start my actual training though I wanted to ask one more question.

"By all the Gods out there if you are about to drop another explosive kunai on me I'll spank you so hard your children will feel it." I subtly moved my posterior away from the angry woman.

"I just wanted to know if I could learn the technique that you use to move around so fast?" She paused and started chuckling.

"Sure here is the hand sign. Now watch closely." I could feel the Chakra build up in her legs and then a puff of smoke and she was gone. Oh, so Kushina didn't create a clone that's good to know. "Starting out it creates a puff of smoke like you just saw but at higher levels it can be used without smoke." She said from right behind me. Ignoring her attempt to startle me I created the hand sign, focused my Chakra, and immediately ran straight into a wall.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Body Flicker (D- rank Active 100(85)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **The body flicker technique is a high speed movement skill that propels the user at such speeds it seems like they teleported.**

 **Increases speed by 300% over 100 meters.**

 **Increases DEX by 1%**

I groaned as I heard my sensei's evil laughter behind me. "I forgot to mention it takes a little getting used to." Forgot my ass. "Don't try to use it in combat until I tell you though, alright?" I grunt as I stand up to try again. Slamming into the opposite wall is just as fun as it was the first time. Listening to Saiko take enjoyment from my pain I just know that tonight is going to seem like forever.

Saiko literally drops me off at training ground 3 the next morning then leaves just as quickly to run back to her bed. The cool grass feels nice on my battered body. I think I'll just lay here for a bit. Something is poking me in the back. I grumble and move slightly.

"Oi, brat you alive." The poking resumes. Fine I'll get up. I push myself up, body aching and face Kushina. She doesn't even try to hide the stick in her hands.

"Woah, what happened to you?" She points at my battered appearance.

"I was learning the body flicker skill last night."

"Ah,' she nods knowingly, 'that'll do it. Do you still want to learn the second stage of water training or do you want to rest?"

"Training please." I force myself to pay attention as her chakra soaks the earth below us drawing water to the surface and into a puddle. She lets the technique dissipate and motions me to try. Alright I can do this. Almost as soon as I start I hear the ding.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Water Drawing (Active – 30(25.13)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Water techniques need water to actually be used. This skill is a precursor to drawing water from other sources to be gathered for a technique.**

 **Increases water accumulation speed by 5%**

"Looks like you've got it just as fast as last time. I was going to have you work out today but seeing you look so pitiful just practice that while I read these scrolls."

I nod, secretly glad to not have to move much right now, and get on with practicing. Just another day in my life really.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 3 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 8 - 1% to next LVL**

 **HP: 590/590**

 **Chakra: 8767/8767**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 61(67.1)**

 **VIT: 59**

 **END: 63**

 **DEX: 75(78)**

 **INT: 54(55.62)**

 **WIS: 53(54.59)**

 **LCK: 13**

 **Points: 40**

 **Money: 800**

 **Water Manipulation (Passive) LVL 5 – 6%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and water chakra as well as the manipulation of water.**

 **Decreases cost of all water techniques by 1.25%**

 **Increases control of water by 5%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.5%**

 ***Water Leaf exercise (Active 10(8.37)/min) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to water chakra and back again by 50%.**

 *** Water Drawing (Active – 30(25.13)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Water techniques need water to actually be used. This skill is a precursor to drawing water from other sources to be gathered for a technique.**

 **Increases water accumulation speed by 5%**

 **Body Flicker (D- rank Active 100(85)) LVL 4 – 15%**

 **The body flicker technique is a high speed movement skill that propels the user at such speeds it seems like they teleported.**

 **Increases speed by 500% over 100 meters.**

 **Increases DEX by 4%**

 *** Beginner's Leaf Taijutsu (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Basic katas at the beginning level of martial arts. It won't impress anyone but at least you know it.**

 **Increases DEX and STR by 10% while using.**

 **Intermediate Leaf Taijutsu (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Intermediate katas at the beginning level of martial arts. It won't impress anyone but at least you know it.**

 **Increases DEX and STR by 10% while using.**

 **Expert Leaf Taijutsu (Passive) LVL 8 – 32%**

 **Expert katas at the beginning level of martial arts.**

 **Increases DEX and STR by 10% while using.**

 ***Meditation (Passive/Active) LVL 35 – 18%: Warning cannot use in battle. To know oneself body and mind. Meditation has been used for centuries to center oneself and for relaxation now you have started on the same path as though before you.**

 **Passive Effect: Increase INT and WIS by 3%**

 **Active Effect: Increases Chakra Regeneration by 45/min**

 ***Chakra Strings (Active – 5(4.25)/min) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Strings formed of pure Chakra manipulation. This technique is most widely used in Suna's Puppeteer Corps. Decreases the time necessary to form the strings by 50%**

 ***Invisible Strings (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Renders the Chakra Strings invisible to the naked eye.**

 ***Length (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Increases functional length of the strings to 100m.**

 ***Strength (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Increases lifting weight of each string by 100kg**

 ***Multitasking (Passive) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Increases number of strings active by 20**

 ***Emissions (Passive) LVL 6 – 87%**

 **Decreases the Chakra emission by 30%**


	6. First C Rank

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto because if I did fight scenes wouldn't be twenty minutes of talking then 2 episodes of flashbacks.**

 **Quick Note: Regarding Shiro's water elemental training. Since it is his natural affinity he gains a 100% xp boost. With being Kushina's apprentice this is boosted to a 200%xp boost for water. For Air its a 100%(half from Air talent and half from Kushina) boost and the rest are all 50%xp boosts. Lighting has 0%, Fire has -50% and Earth has -100% xp modifiers. This does not mean he won't still learn the initial skill at the same rate but he will learn faster or slower based on modifiers. Fire and Earth also have Chakra cost modifiers as well so he can't grind the skill as easily.**

The next few weeks of my life were rather enjoyable. I spent the days with Kushina and she varied between training me physically, techniques or general shinobi knowledge. In addition some days we just hung out with Itachi and Mikoto. I only saw Minato briefly one other time and that was at Ichiraku's for lunch. Apparently the war was keeping him and his squad extremely busy. Kushina left for a couple of days as well on a mission. I wasn't involved with it because it was an A rank and as of right now I just wasn't qualified for that kind of mission.

Saiko kept me extra busy for those days Kushina was gone as well as worked with me during the night to improve myself. We continued to work on the body flicker skill as well as general exercise and more specialized shinobi knowledge. My routine was broken this morning however.

It started off normally enough. Saiko dropped me off at training ground 3 and I went to work on my second water release skill, water bullet, over by the lake so I had a ready source of water for it. The bullet sped out of my mouth and drilled into a nearby rock creating a big gouge in the center. I certainly wouldn't want to get hit by this or any ninjutsu really.

 **Ding! Water Bullet leveled up.**

 **Water Release: Water Bullet (C Rank – Active( 250(200))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Generates a high pressured ball of water which shoots forth from the mouth like a bullet.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***More Dakka (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Generates up to 10 water bullets per cast**

 ***Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Water Release: Water Whip (D Rank – Active(100(89))) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Generates a whip of highly pressurized water that you can direct.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***I've seen enough Hentai…(Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Generates up to 10 water whips per cast. Anime girls beware.**

 *** Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

I'm pretty enthused by my new skills even though I'm still not completely sure why my water elemental skills are leveling up so quickly even with the hidden bonus from that quest. I do feel that my power is trolling me a bit with some of the descriptions but there's nothing I can do about that.

While I was admiring my skills I felt Kushina start walking towards me. "Shiro I've seen enough for today it's time for something different."

"Different how sensei?"

She strikes a dramatic pose. "It's time for you to experience a mission."

"What rank will the mission be?" I asked cautiously. I had no desire to take slave labor D rank missions. They would be pointless and cut into my training time.

"Your other sensei and I believe you are ready for a C rank mission that we picked out. It starts in 30 minutes at the entrance of the North Gate." She tosses me a small bundle. "Your other sensei packed everything you'll need in there. Do you think you could body flicker to the North Gate?"

I unravel the bundle revealing it to be a small pack that I can strap around my waist. I do so then nod at Kushina's question. "Then let's go." We disappear from the clearing in puffs of smoke. It takes me quite a few more flickers before we reach the North Gate and I immediately sit down and start meditating. I used up around 2000 chakra from flickering and practicing the water bullet skill so I would prefer to recover before we leave the village.

With around 100 Chakra/min regeneration it takes 20 minutes for me to fully recharge giving me a bit of time to check the pouch I've been given. Inside the pouch are scrolls with the words clothes, food, shelter and gear written on the outside. "Sensei is there anyone around us?" She looks confused before shaking her head. We're standing off to the side of the gate, out of the way but close enough to see it.

I take the scrolls and shove all of them into my inventory. "What the fuck?" Huh? Did I not tell her about that? Oops.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? My bloodline decided I needed a pocket space to hide things."

"No,' she ground out, 'you didn't mention it at all."

"Well I think you inspired it really when you mentioned that ninja are never without a weapon I got to thinking how I would hide a weapon and then this happened."

"Idiot, I meant your body."

I nod vigorously. "I know sensei said that as well but I like sharp things and ninjutsu so those were what I thought of."

"And your bloodline thought hey let's mess with dangerous space-time ninjutsu and create something to hide items in."

"Exactly. Kushina sensei you know me so well."

"Brat one of these days you'll give me a heart attack."

"Sensei said I'll drive her insane eventually." She starts laughing at that.

"I think she and I need to go drinking one day to commiserate together."

"That hurts me sensei. Right here." I tap on my chest over where my heart is. "So what's the actual mission that we're going on? You never told me."

"Well if someone hadn't pulled an insane jutsu out of their ass I would have told you earlier." Eh, you're the one overreacting. "Our mission is to guard a supply run from here to the capital of Fire country. It's a 3 day journey with the caravan."

"That's there and back right?"

"Yep one day on the road, another in the city and one on the way back."

"Is that them there?" I point at a group of 5 wagons that are pulling up to the North Gate.

"Yep that's them. Let me do the talking for now." As we were walking over to them I received a notification.

 **Ding! Task Received.**

 **C Rank - Escort the merchants from Konoha to the capital and back.**

 **Rewards: 300xp, 3000ryo**

A task not a quest? Are all missions going to be tasks then or will some of them be quests if they're dangerous enough? Whatever, it's not really that big a deal. Kushina has started to talk with the master of the caravan. He's an older guy who's going bald and greying hair. He still looks fit for a civilian though. No appreciable chakra worth mentioning.

"You're our escort? A woman and a child barely old enough to not be drinking milk from his mom's teat. When I paid for a C rank mission I expected to get my money's worth, not this." I think I looked at him like he was crazy. Can't he tell Kushina's a jonin the jacket totally gives it away? If she tried she could kill you with a finger flick to the forehead. What the fuck are you doing trying to get her mad at you for?

"I can assure you no harm will come to you during the journey. My apprentice and I are more than enough to handle anything that happens along the way." He ranted about his poor business choices some more but in the end we were wasting daylight and grumbling all the way we set out. The guards manning the gate looked at my official shinobi photo, which I had taken earlier in the week, and waved us through.

The walls of Konoha faded away behind us as we began our journey. It was interesting being out of the village for all of half an hour before I wanted to go back. It wasn't the walking that got me, I could walk forever, or the boredom. No it was the huge amount of dust that the 5 wagons and horses kicked up as we moved along. It got everywhere and within 10 minutes I felt filthy. Groaning internally I set up a revolving patrol with random bursts from my Chakra Sense every so often. This would be a long day.

I was right after all the day was far too long for my taste. We stopped 3 miles out from the capital to avoid paying for hotels and the entire time the caravan master was still bitching about us. Give it a rest already man. I think he kept on complaining even as he was laying down in his tent but I tuned him out before that.

"Alright let's set up a watch schedule. Even though we're this close to the capital it doesn't pay to get complacent." I gave her a deadpan look.

"You do remember that I don't sleep right?"

"Oh, haha, right of course. I kinda forgot with all the other crazy stuff you do. Still I'll take first watch and there will be both of us up then." I shrugged.

"If you want to lose sleep be my guest. I won't say no to another pair of eyes to keep us safe." With that we went to opposite sides of the camp and set up watch. It was a boring night with nothing happening until a chakra flashed us the friendlies passing by signal. I sent an acknowledge back and that was the single moment of excitement for the entire night. Of course I never ever even in the darkest part of my mind thought the words 'I'm bored' or any variant.

Both of my sensei's had told stories about ninja that courted with Murphy. Most of them weren't alive anymore. I took those stories with a grain of salt but since one time Kushina had told one of the stories at Ichiraku's and the surrounding ninja had nodded along I was better off being safe than sorry.

The first hint of sunlight was peeking up from the horizon and the caravan took that as the sign it was time to wake up. The camp was broken down and packed up with an efficiency that spoke of long practice then we continued down the road.

The sun was rising above the horizon as we reached the gates of the capital. The guards there already looked bored as they waved us through. The capital was far different than Konoha. The biggest difference was the lack of trees growing between buildings and the smell. To my now highly attuned senses it smelled dirty. I turned off the Chakra enhancement and the smell wasn't so overpowering anymore.

We had running water and electricity in Konoha so I had assumed that these amenities had extended throughout Fire country but it seems I was wrong. The richer parts of the city had them but the lower class had to make due with subpar utilities. I stuck close to Kushina and the caravan as we trudged through the city to the market place.

The bazar was just setting up and the merchants left us with the carts to roam into the maze of tents and stalls for the best deals. Once again the time passed slowly and the merchants would occasionally come back with things they had bought until at around mid-afternoon everything was rounded up and we proceeded back out the gate. Being back on the road again was as dusty as before and I tried my best to just ignore it while focusing on patrolling. Nothing happened during the day and the night was equally uneventful.

Once more everyone rose at dawn and set forth again. This time something different then the routine happened. Further up the road I could sense 10 people off to either side of the road. Looking back at Kushina I signaled for orders. She decided on a wait and see approach. They might be friendly so we wouldn't attack until they did.

Drawing closer and closer I could feel them getting ready. The ones on the right spread out a bit while the ones on the left bunched together. _Probable hostile, how proceed?_

 _Target right. Hold attack._

We were in sight now and I could make out their figures hiding within the bushes near the road. I even saw a glint of metal reflecting off of a sword. Amateur bandits. How did they even survive this close to Konoha? The penalty for banditry is death and they should have been caught by now unless this was an extremely new band.

My suspicions were proven correct when the actual archer on the right yelled to charge before firing. The arrow went right for the caravan master and as tempting as it was to let it hit him I had a job to do. Snagging the arrow out of the air with a Chakra string I sent it hurtling straight back into the archer's throat. He went down clawing at it.

The other four hadn't seem to have seen their leader's demise or they were stupid and they charged. I spat and my hands blurred. My spit grew from a drop to a small pool of water where four whips grew from. Seeming to realize that charging was a bad idea they started to turn but it far was too late. Each whip was able to crack tree trunks when they hit. For an unenhanced human they hit hard enough to shatter bones. Two died instantly when the whip hit their skulls while the other two were 'lucky' enough not to die when they were hit.

One had his right leg shattered and he went down screaming. He was still mobile enough to be a threat so a moment later a kunai lodged in his skull. The other one had enough smarts to know when to run and had gotten the furthest away. My water whip had hit him on his spine paralyzing him from the waist down. I left him for now incase Kushina wanted one alive for whatever reason.

Even though I could sense everyone just fine I still looked over to where the other bandits had been. Kushina was calmly wiping the blood off of her tanto that she got from somewhere. I absently noted that the bandits on her side hadn't been able to take more than a single step towards the wagons. "Sensei do we need one alive for information?"

"No." Her voice was colder than I've ever heard it before and I shrugged before one of my kunai struck the paralyzed bandit who had been trying to crawl away.

"Strip them of everything useful and then I'll show you a technique on how to bury them." Her voice was still cold and I leapt to my task. The five bandits didn't really have anything useful on them. Four half pitted and rusted blades of iron, a few arrowheads worth taking and 320ryo. She pulled out a scroll and was about to seal it before she told me to put it all in my inventory and give it to Saiko later.

Watching Kushina as she performed the hand signs and the bodies sink into the ground I was confused at when I had grown strong enough to kill 5 men within 10 seconds. I think my views on strength have been warped by being next to people that are so much stronger than me all the time. Maybe spending some time around the village and limiting myself would give me perspective. If I grow totally detached from the common civilian it would be bad thing. Resolution made I tried to perform the technique Kushina used.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Earth Release: Moving Ground (E Rank – Active (150(127.5))) LVL 1 -0%**

 **A simple earth release move that shifts the earth near the user as they desire.**

 **Decrease casting speed 5%**

My eyes widened at the cost of a simple E rank. That's 300% more than a clone. Is it because of my elemental nature? I preformed the jutsu and then turned to Kushina.

"Sensei why did that technique cost me so much to cast?"

"Well first off good job getting it your first try and secondly it's the opposite of your main element so it costs more." She turned to the caravan master. "The threat had been taken care of. Would you like to continue traveling?" He was staring at us with wide eyes and with a shaky nod set the wagons moving.

The rest of the trip was entirely peaceful and the caravan master had finally stopped bad mouthing us. It only took killing 10 men in front of him to do it a cheap price all told. I frown, wait that came out wrong. As soon as we were inside the Northern Gate they ran off leaving us behind.

"Come on Shiro I'll show you how to write a mission report and then we'll go turn it in to the mission office." It turned out to be pretty simple. Just write out the who's, what's and why's of each day then turn it in. That done we went to the mission office, which was in the Hokage's tower, and waited in line. Our turn came and we went through a door that closed behind us. Kushina handed over the report then spoke.

"Kushina Uzumaki, jonin, and apprentice Shiro, no last name, returning from C rank mission number 23948. Supply run from Konoha to capital city. No abnormalities. 10 bandits killed and location noted on report." The woman at the desk skimmed over the report gave us our pay slip and dismissed us. That was it. 10 men dead and they got a footnote on a report while we got a paycheck.

 **Ding! Task Complete**

My percentage to next level went up to 14%. Good for me I guess. I don't know the levels and banked points are nice. I'll probably use them someday but right now I'm just letting my stats grow naturally so when it gets extremely hard to grow I might use them then or if I really need to earlier.

Kushina led me to another office that was nearby where we exchanged our slips for cash. I stuck mine in my pack for now with the intent to throw it into my inventory later. I did notice that she received a larger stack of money than I did and I figured that being a sensei has its benefits or no one would do it.

Kushina's hand latched onto my shirt. "Alright Shiro the best thing to do after a mission is head over to Ichiraku's and get a large helping of Ramen." She shouted joyfully as she dragged me through the streets.

"Ah, I can run myself sensei."

"No time, you're to slow." She proceeded to go even faster. Some people had to jump out of the rampaging Kushina's way or get crushed. In the end I just let it happen and eventually I was plopped down in a stool next to hers.

"Oi, Teuchi three bowls of miso Ramen for me and Shiro will have a bowl of chicken Ramen as well." That's fine with me. I liked the chicken one the best then followed by the miso.

"Hello you two back from a mission?"

"Yep it was Shiro's first C rank mission." She grinned widely.

"Really that calls for a celebration then. 50% off the first bowl for both of you."

"You're the best Teuchi." He's a nice guy isn't he? Probably sees a lot of ninja come back after having lost a squad member so he gives people something to celebrate when they all come back.

Our bowls are ready in short order and I dig in. It's as delicious as always and beside me Kushina is tearing through her bowls quickly. I decide to savor this one for a bit and eat slowly. Finishing my bowl I slide it away as Kushina finishes her third. Looks like she was savoring it as well. I try to pay for my bowl but she keeps insisting that she pay for it.

"Brat it's your first paycheck use it how you want but after your first mission the meal is on me." Fine. I put my money back in my bag. Paying for our meal Kushina and I left but not before saying goodbye to Teuchi.

"Where to now sensei?" Tilting her head to the side she considers.

"My house." Alright that's fine. We take the 20 minute walk in silence. It's a natural silence that isn't awkward just two people with nothing to really say to each other at the moment. As we draw nearer to the house Kushina seems to perk up and I can recognize the flavor of chakra coming from the house. It seems that Minato is home along with the other boy Kakashi.

Running forward she slammed the door open and shouted, "I'm home," then ran inside. I followed at a more sedate pace and closed the door behind me. Kushina was kissing Minato in the kitchen and I could see Hatake somehow eating through a mask at the table. He gave me a once over disinterested look before he went right back to eating.

Kushina disentangled herself from Minato and stood at arm's length. "I have to do something first." He gave her an odd look before his gaze landed on me and I could see the spark of realization then sadness appear on his face. Giving me a small sad smile he walked over and patted my shoulder before going upstairs.

Hatake had stopped eating and gave me another glance before nodding and resuming to eat. I looked quizzically at Kushina but she just gave me a smile before leading me upstairs to the bath. Ah, the first kill tradition.

"You know I've already killed before right?" The smile she gave me was filled with sadness.

"I know but it's your first kill while I'm your sensei so the tradition still stands." She began to disrobe and with a momentary pause I did as well. Stopping momentarily I put my money into my inventory for safe keeping and then stepped through the door into the bath proper.

I sat down on one of the stools and let Kushina wash me. Her hands were calloused from years of hard work yet they were gentle as they washed my back and hair. Just like Saiko's hands were. She stopped there and allowed me to do my front while she washed herself. Rinsing ourselves off we stepped into the hot water.

Gently she pulled me onto her lap and wrapped her arms around me. We sat there for a while before she began to talk. "Why did you become a shinobi Shiro?"

"My bloodline was too useful to be wasted and I was rather forcibly recruited." Her arms tightened around me.

"Maybe I should have phrased it better. Why do you want to continue to be a shinobi?" I gave the question some thought as the feel of her arms and hot water soothed me.

"I want to continue to be a shinobi to protect Konohagakure, eventually become strong enough to protect Sensei, you and survive."

"Survive?"

I let the silence stretch for a moment. "Yes survive. Right now almost every other ninja could kill me easily as I am now. If you put your mind to it I'm sure you could kill me by flicking me in the head with your finger."

"I would never-" She began before I cut her off.

"It's not a question of would it's a question of could. So could you kill me just by flicking me in the head? Bear in mind I just want you to be truthful and it won't affect the way I see you." She fidgeted for a bit then settled down.

"Yes I could." I nodded.

"Right now I lack power so I strive to gather it."

"So you work hard just to gain power?" I frowned was she purposefully not understanding?

"Power brought together Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Their power drew others until they ended the blood bath of the Clan Wars and brought about the relative peace of the Villages. Then the newly formed Villages fought for power over each other which continues today. Maybe someday someone powerful enough will bring an end to the Villages and usher in an age of even greater peace."

"Do you want to be that someone?" I frown at that.

"Kushina, my bloodline doesn't let me feel anything. Not anger, fear, sorrow, jealousy not even love sometimes I get flashes but nothing lasts. I can see and even emulate some feelings but I can never feel them. Even if I became a God I could never be that person. All the power in the world won't help if you can't understand the needs and wants of those who have less power than you." Her hug tightens even further and I felt something wet drop on my head. Is she crying?

"I think you can understand people just fine Shiro. You wanted power to protect your sensei and I. That's caring about people and what about Itachi? You're friends with him." This next part might be difficult for her.

"I've known you two long enough to want to care about you so I try to emulate caring. I know Itachi and I want to get to know him more but right now I don't know him enough to try to emulate caring."

"How do you choose who to care for?" Her voice is a whisper.

"The people that are kind to me. Sensei was kind enough to do what you are doing right now and you were kind enough to take on a troubled boy as an apprentice. To feed him with your own money and try to comfort him after he killed 5 people. These are the reasons I'm trying to care for you and Sensei." I could feel the tears drop onto my head faster now and her hug is almost painful.

"I'm going to have a baby someday and when that baby is born I'm going to make you an honorary big brother. Later when they're 2 and running around saying 'big brother big brother' you're going to pick them up and in that moment you're going to feel love. My baby will also never ever have a verbal tick."

I felt a smile at the mental image. "It sounds like a wonderful dream and I wouldn't be so sure about the verbal tick. I'm sure if you talk to Minato he would admit to liking when you say dattebane. Your flustered face is very cute." She burst out laughing at that then hiccupped.

"And you say you can't understand people. You're going to have all the ladies over you when you're old."

"If I survive." A smack and then a stinging sensation on the back of my head.

"Idiot I'll make sure of it." The water hadn't even rippled yet I know she hit me with her hand. Now that's skill right there.

"Okay then." Silence descended on us and we just sat there until the water became to cool. Sighing she nudged me to get up and we left the bath to get dressed. With what must be impeccable timing I felt Saiko's chakra outside the house. I turned to Kushina and she nodded. She walked me to the front door where Minato was waiting. He laid his hand on my shoulder again and I bowed before I left. Just as the door was closing I saw Kushina grab Minato's shirt and drag him upstairs.

I walked out with a small smile on my face towards Saiko. "What's got you smiling?"

"I think I just helped my sensei's boyfriend get laid." Her head tilted to the side and I could almost see the question mark above her head.

"I feel like this could be bad for my sanity but tell me back at base."

"Alright." She laid her hand on my shoulder and we disappeared yet the world didn't blur as much anymore.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 3 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 8 - 14% to next LVL**

 **HP: 610/610**

 **Chakra: 11,363/11,363**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 65(71.5)**

 **VIT: 61**

 **END: 66**

 **DEX: 86(94.6)**

 **INT: 57(58.71)**

 **WIS: 54(55.62)**

 **LCK: 13**

 **Points: 40**

 **Money: 800**

 **Skills that were added or changed**

 **Body Flicker (D- rank Active 100(85)) LVL 10 - MAX**

 **The body flicker technique is a high speed movement skill that propels the user at such speeds it seems like they teleported.**

 **Increases speed by 800% over 100 meters.**

 **Increases DEX by 10%**

 ***With Clear Eyes(Passive) LVL 5 – 67%**

 **Reduces blur when moving by 50%**

 **Water Manipulation (Passive) LVL 25 – 56%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and water chakra as well as the manipulation of water.**

 **Decreases cost of all water techniques by 6.25%**

 **Increases control of water by 25%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 2.5%**

 ***Water Leaf exercise (Active 10(7.87)/min) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to water chakra and back again by 50%.**

 *** Water Drawing (Active – 30(23.63)/min) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Water techniques need water to actually be used. This skill is a precursor to drawing water from other sources to be gathered for a technique.**

 **Increases water accumulation speed by 50%**

 ***Water Propagating (Active – 30(23.63)/min) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Creates more water from existing sources of water through the use of chakra.**

 **Increases water generated by 50%**

 **Water Release: Water Bullet (C Rank – Active( 250(200))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Generates a high pressured ball of water which shoots forth from the mouth like a bullet.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***More Dakka (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Generates up to 10 water bullets per cast**

 ***Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Water Release: Water Whip (D Rank – Active(100(89))) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Generates a whip of highly pressurized water that you can direct.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***I've seen enough Hentai…(Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Generates up to 10 water whips per cast. Anime girls beware.**

 *** Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Earth Release: Moving Ground (E Rank – Active (150(127.5))) LVL 1 -0%**

 **A simple earth release move that shifts the earth near the user as they desire.**

 **Decrease casting speed 5%**

 ***Chakra Enhancement (Active 15(12.75)/min) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Chakra can be used to enhance the physical aspects of your body leading to an increased performance. Careful not to push too hard or you might break something.**

 **Increases STR, DEX and END by 50%**

 ***Enhance Senses (Active 15/min) LVL 5 – 64%**

 **Instead of enhancing your body you enhance your senses**

 **50% increase in senses**

 **Language Comprehension (Passive): The ability to speak and understand languages.**

 **English 100%**

 **Japanese 100%**

 **Chakra Signals 100%**

 **Leaf Sign Language 100%**


	7. Chapter 7: Omake

**This is just a short Omake that I thought would fit nicely after the last chapter. Enjoy.**

I gave Saiko the weapons that I had looted from the bandits when we got back to base. They still looked as barely functional as before but they could be melted down and reforged again. Then I had to explain how I got them which led to me reciting the entirety of my mission back at her from memory, she said it was good practice, and finally explaining how I got Minato laid. She nodded along for all of it until I got to the end.

She ticks up one finger. "First off how do you even know what laid means?"

"I heard it in the village when someone was referring to going to the prostitutes to get laid. I believe it is just another word for sex." She's rubbing her forehead through her mask now.

"That still doesn't explain why you know about sex." Sorry old man you're going to take the rap for this.

"Oh." I reached into my inventory and pulled out an orange colored book. "An older man with long white hair and an oil headband gave me this. He said all male shinobi should carry one around at all times and hide it from females." I blinked at the sudden loss of weight in my hand.

Saiko had thrown the book up in the air and her hands blurring too fast for me to see shot a huge flaming snake from her mouth. The intense heat made me step back and blink repeatedly to get the moisture back in my eyes. I saw the little motes of ash drift down as the technique died out.

"Shiro where was Kushina when you got this?" She positively purred out.

"Um, she suddenly started shouting about paying tribute to the Ramen Gods and ran to Ichiraku's." Wow I'm just throwing people under the bus right now.

"And you didn't think this was strange at all?" I shrug helplessly and back up slightly.

"She's done it before. I thought it was a quirk." She stops her slow advance and considers that.

"Alright I'll give you that but why would you accept something from a strange ninja?" She resumes her advance towards me.

"Because every male civilian and shinobi in hearing range turned, gave me a huge smile, and a thumbs up. Then they pulled out their own copies of the book." I blurted out. Get under the damn bus all of you. Let me live. My back hit the wall of the room. "I thought it was like those stories you told me about not tempting fate."

Her hands slowly settled on my shoulders. It felt like I was being crushed by a mountain. "Now Shiro I'm not mad."

 **Ding! Intense bloodlust detected.**

 **Learned Detect Bloodlust (Passive) LVL 4 – 5%**

 **Detect people's hostile intentions towards you or others nearby.**

 **Range 4 meters**

'Bullshit.'

"But I have to know if you've received any other inappropriate literature. You would tell me if you had more of those books wouldn't you Shiro?" She made it sound so innocent like butter wouldn't even melt in her mouth.

"Two of them might have given me other books." She purred, literally purred.

"Good, could you tell me what those two look like Shiro? Kushina and I need to go have a chat with them later." I'm so sorry nameless people. I'll pray for you. I told her everything I could remember about them. Age, height, physical description everything but a name.

"Excellent work Shiro. Now could you please hand me those inappropriate books they gave you for… disposal?" I wordlessly handed them over and watched as they were turned to ash by another flame snake. "Now I think we need to have another lesson on the basics of dodging sharp things. Wouldn't want you to get hit by one out in the field now would we?" This was going to be a long night.

The next morning Saiko and I arrived at training ground three with me being held at arm's length away from Saiko. I guess she didn't want to get covered in my blood. When we arrived Kushina had looked like a cat that had gotten away with the canary and the cream. That changed to a mild frown as she took in my appearance.

"What happened to Shiro?" There was a hint of warning in her tone.

"Oh, Shiro and I practiced his dodging last night. As you can see he still needs work and I even went easy on him." She lets out a put upon sigh. Easy! There was no easy last night. You were throwing kunai faster than I body flicker.

"But never mind him." She dropped me to the ground where I landed with a thud. "You would not believe what I found on him last night." Hopefully if I lay as still as possible they'll forget about me.

"I wanted to know how he knew about sex last night and he pulled out one of Jiraiya's books." Kushina went red with embarrassment about her actions last night and then realization set in. Her long red hair seemed to stand up and split into 9 distinct tails. I am one with the ground and the ground is one with me.

"Apparently Jiraiya gave him one and then two other people gave him a copy as well." A corona of red is starting to surround Kushina now. Why don't I know any Earth ninjutsu?

"I have all of their locations now. Why don't we go have a chat with them about appropriate material for a child?" Kushina just let out an animalistic growl and they disappeared. I waited until I was almost sure they weren't coming back before I sat up. I was sitting at a little under a quarter health left and I needed somewhere to hide until their feminine fury was over or at least sated.

I knew where I needed to go. With an application of chakra I flickered away and landed in front of the gate to the Uchiha compound. Both of the guards seemed to recoil from the sight of me and then tense, ready for action. The one on the right seemed familiar and with a jolt I realized who he was.

"You!" I pointed at him and they both drew their swords. "I'm the kid you gave Jiraiya's book to. Kushina, my sensei, found out about them and now she's with a friend on a rampage. You have to hide. I know I'm trying to." In the distance we could hear a bestial roar and a high pitched scream a man makes when he loses something important.

The man's eyes widened at the sound and I could see him start to shake. He turned to the other guard. "I- I have to-"

"I know. I'll pray for you." The man flickers away as the high pitched screams start again. The remaining guard looks back at me. "Are you okay kid? You're wearing more blood than clothes right now."

I look down at what could only pass for rags now. The black and grey color scheme has given way to red and now that I think about it I could feel blood drying on my face. I look back up at him. "I'll be fine. I just need to get to Mikoto. Hopefully her motherly instincts will protect me from the coming storm."

He nods. "It's a good plan kid." He lets me through and I flicker as fast as I can to Mikoto's house. I urgently start knocking on the door as soon as I arrive. It seems like it takes forever for her to open the door but as soon as she does I can see her eyes widen in shock.

"Shiro what happened to you? Are you alright?" Her hands start glowing green as she runs them over my body. Wounds and bruises start healing and I can see my health going up.

"No time to explain I need you to protect me."

"Protect you? Protect you from what?" Another high pitched scream comes from near the gate. It seems that the poor soul didn't get far.

"Sensei is on a rampage." Time to take a gamble. "Some guy named Jiraiya gave me this orange book and then two other people did as well. Kushina found out about it and now she's gone insane."

"Jiraiyaaaaa!" A thundering shout echoes from the distance. I look towards the shout and then back at her with wide eyes. "Please hide me?" I saw her look in the direction of the shout and back at me. A hint of a smile appeared on her face. Damnit this is a matter of life or death.

"Okay Shiro come in." Thank God. Itachi was near the doorway and his normally impassive face was frozen in shock at the sight of me.

"Itachi." I said seriously. "If a white haired man with an oil head guard offers you an orange book scream rape and kick him in the nuts." He just nodded numbly as Mikoto led me to the bath so I could wash off all this blood.

~Interlude~ Hokage

The morning started peacefully enough. Just another day as I read through the increasing number of casualties sustained on the frontlines and sending new orders where appropriate. The peace was shattered when I felt the familiar chill going down my spine that I get when Kushina gets into a rage.

Who's the poor fool of her ire now? I motioned for one of the ANBU stationed in my office to investigate and she flickered away. Going back to my paperwork was hard but necessary. A short while later a shadow clone of the ANBU appeared in front of me. Dreading why she didn't come in person I never the less asked for her report.

"Jiraiya gave Kushina's 3 year old apprentice one of his books. Two other males also gave him two other copies."

"I see. Why didn't you come back yourself?"

"I felt it my duty to join in on the pursuit." What has it come to that the ANBU desert their position? "Dismissed." The clone popped. This isn't good. What to do? What to do? That's it. Pointing at the other female ANBU in the room I sent her to fetch Minato.

As soon as she disappeared I quickly removed my platinum edition signed copy from my pocket and into a special seal accessible only to the Hokage. Safe. Minato appeared before my desk and my experienced eye could tell he was holding himself with difficulty.

"Minato I need you for a mission are you injured?" He turns beat red.

"Ah, no Hokage just very sore." I prompt him to continue and somehow he turns even redder. "Kushina was very enthusiastic last night and this morning." That lucky bastard.

"Never mind that I need you to calm down Kushina before she kills Jiraiya."

"Jiraiyaaa!" We both turn towards the shout and then back at each other.

Minato groans. "What did he do this time?"

"Apparently he gave Shiro one of his orange books." Minato pales then hangs his head.

"I don't know if I can stop her but I'll try."

"That's all I ask." He leaps out the window and dashes towards the screaming. I give a weary sigh then get back to work. Hopefully Jiraiya survives.

~Interlude end~


	8. First B Rank

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

 **Warning mentions of Rape**

I had successfully hidden away with Mikoto while the screams of the damned rang out throughout the town. She had seemed to think the whole thing was kind of funny as I had seen her smiling the entire time I was there.

Saiko had picked me up after the last screams trailed off and had brought me back to base. I was hypervigilant for that night and the next day when I was returned to Kushina yet both of them seemed to have no recollection of their rampage and acted no different than normal. It had made me jumpy for an entire week before my paranoia went back down to reasonable shinobi levels.

From there things had fallen into a routine again. Kushina continued to train me in water techniques, which I still learned extremely fast, and Saiko started teaching me lighting release. Apparently that was her main element. All I could think about when I started was Sith Lighting. I would be all like 'You Underestimate my Power' then bam lighting to the face. In addition Kushina had started to train me in kenjutsu because I was blowing through the water element training.

Before that we had to actually get a sword which turned out to be a point of contention between us. A good sword is around 10,000 ryo and would last me years if I took proper care of it. I thought it was a good investment to make. All I would have to do is go on three more C ranks and I would have enough to buy one and a proper cleaning kit. Kushina disagreed with the idea.

She wanted to buy a sword for me as some kind of present or something so I wouldn't have to spend all of my money on one thing. I didn't want her to have to pay for it because it wasn't an inexpensive item. Paying for a 50ryo bowl of ramen is far different than spending an entire C ranks worth of money on me. She has a house and other expenses to take care of.

I don't have to pay for lodging at the underground base and I ate food for enjoyment not necessity. All my needs were met so I should be allowed to spend that much on a blade if I wanted to. It almost devolved into a shouting match before Minato, who was sitting on the couch, suggested that Kushina would pay for the initial blade and I would pay her back in installments. It didn't make either of us very happy but that's what compromising means.

Actually getting a sword was a hassle as well. Kushina took me to an out of the way weapon shop where a huge mountain of a man was working a forge in the back of the shop. I could feel the heat from just entering the shop so the back portion must be sweltering. What followed next was a long drawn out process where the blacksmith, Tenjen, made me hold blade after blade. From a meter and a half long katana to a 12cm long tanto. In the end I exited the shop with an 18cm long tanto, with a sheathe, and proper cleaning supplies for it.

Saiko showed up at the end of the day and took one look at my new tanto and asked why I hadn't asked her to grab one from the armory. Thanks Saiko you made the entire process of today completely pointless. Whatever, I had a new tanto to call my own.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Beginner Kenjutsu (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%**

 **The beginning level of sword play. You could chop off a limb if you're not careful.**

 **Increases speed while using a sword by 5%**

Several more weeks went by as I continued training interrupted by 1-2 C rank mission per week and on occasion Kushina would be called on to complete a mission that I wasn't allowed to participate in. At the end of the third week something different happened. Saiko had dropped me off and left as normal while Kushina had been sitting in the center of the clearing.

She directed me to begin the blade kata that I had been working on immediately and I did so with my usual singlemindedness when it comes to training. 30 minutes into it though Kushina started to groan and then leaned to the side to vomit.

"Sensei are you alright?" I stopped the exercise and quickly made my way over to her. She tried to wave it off but vomited again.

"Do you need me to get a medic sensei?" I hovered near her not really sure what to do.

"No, no I just feel a little, urp." She started dry heaving after vomiting everything in her stomach. I flared up my chakra.

 _Need help._ I waited for a moment then felt a response.

 _What kind?_

 _Medical._

 _Status?_

 _Unknown._

 _Hold._

Less than 30 seconds later 2 ANBU dropped into the clearing. They took one look at Kushina, who was still heaving, and the one on the right move forward with their hands glowing green.

Kushina was being stubborn in her refusal to let the nice ANBU do his job but her strength didn't seem to be up to its usual par and he batted away her arms easily. His palms hovered over Kushina's stomach for a bit then the ANBU stood up and backed away slightly.

"Congratulations you're not dying horribly just pregnant." Gallows humor much. Wait what?

"What!?" Her bellow echoed through the clearing.

"You're pregnant. Have a pleasant day." Both ANBU flickered out of the clearing.

"Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant." Kushina muttered to herself over and over again. I think she's going into shock.

"Kushina." She still kept muttering to herself. I lightly touched her shoulder and the next thing I felt was my back slamming into a tree. Breathing would be helpful here my body screamed at me. I'm glad I have Chakra enhancement going all the time. Drawing a rasping breath I took stock of my body.

20 points of health gone. Burning pain in my chest and back with a bump on the back of my head. Nothing feels broken though just battered. "Oh, my god Shiro I'm so sorry." Her hands are roaming over my body checking for cracks or breaks. Mental note don't startle a ninja. Second mental note if the ANBU run away consider following their example.

"I'm so sorry I just felt your hand and reacted." I tried to wave her off.

"I'm, cough, fine just got the wind knocked out of me. That's not important though you're pregnant." She freezes and then her entire face lights up.

"Oh my God you're right I'm pregnant. I'm going to have a baby like Mikoto. This is my dream coming true. Oh no what should I name them? What if they don't like me or if they have my verbal tick? What if they don't like Minato? Minato! What am I supposed to tell him? We're not even married what if he leaves me? I can't tell him."

The babble is strong right now but it's leading to a bad direction. "Kushina sensei." I yell out breaking her from her downward spiral. "Talk to Mikoto first and don't even believe Minato would leave you. You live in a house together and have a live in teenager you're already basically married."

Her face which had been getting darker brightened back up again. "You're right let's go to Mikoto she'll know what to do." I'm unceremoniously grabbed and draped over her shoulder as the world blurs around us. We skipped going through the gate and landed right in front of Mikoto's house.

"Mikoto open up right now." She started to bang on the door. The door had barely started to open before she barged in almost smacking Mikoto as she retreated into a defensive position. The door was slammed closed and I was dropped on the ground as Kushina hug tackled Mikoto off the ground to carry her further into the house.

Itachi came out of a side room as Kushina ran down the hall carrying his mom and babbling. He seems to take it well enough and looks to me for clarification. "Hello Itachi. Kushina just found out she's pregnant." He tilts his head to the side quizzically.

Right can't forget he's only 3 he can't know everything. "It means she's going to have a baby soon. So what were you working on today?"

"My father deemed me ready to practice the Uchiha's signature move Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. I have already succeeded in creating it and now I am simply working on increasing the speed at which I cast it." Damn he's a genius. I mean that in a good way.

"Hm, have you worked on any chakra control exercises? They would help you waste less chakra when you cast the fireball." He has maybe enough chakra to cast it four times before he's out of chakra. Pretty good reserves for his age actually. I of course don't count because I'm totally not normal.

"I have mastered the leaf sticking exercise but nothing other than that." Cool I can help him out then.

"If you show me to the garden I can show you the next step." He nods amicably and we proceed to the garden. I walk up to one of the trees there and then straight up the side of it. Doing that takes way more than just sticking your feet to the tree it also involves a butt load of core strength.

I toss a kunai to land at his feet. "As you can see you can use your chakra to stick to surfaces and walk up them. Some people prefer to learn this by getting a running start or you can lay on your back and practice sticking your feet to the tree first. Either way you can mark the tree with the kunai to see how far you've gone. Don't worry about falling I'll catch you." I make my Chakra strings visible and attach themselves to him then go invisible.

I heard excited shouting from inside the house as I jumped up onto a branch to get comfortable. Drawing a small stream of water from the nearby pond I had it circle around me in pure water shaping exercise that never showed up in my skills. It levels my Water Manipulation like crazy though.

Itachi went with the slow and steady route instead of running headlong into it. I kind of expected him to do it this way actually. He doesn't seem like the guy that would rush into things. We each did our own thing as the noise from inside the house would ebb and flow. It would seem that Itachi has gained enough confidence to try the actual exercise now.

Standing up and backing away from the tree he gave it a running start that took him half way up the tree. He didn't quite have the exercise down and as he started to fall my strings grew taunt enough to lightly set him on the ground. Nodding his thanks he tried again and this time succeeded in reaching the top of the tree. He stood horizontally for a moment then started walking back down the tree.

"Impressive. Now that you've gotten the exercise keep at it to improve your control and chakra capacity." I kept my strings on him as he walked up and down the tree. That was what Kushina and Mikoto walked out to later. Myself with 8 spinning circles of water around me while Itachi ran up and down a tree.

Mikoto calling out to us was enough for Itachi's focus to slip again and I had to set him down on the ground. I think I heard her breath hitch when he slipped. I looked up at the sky and blinked. Wow I must have been extremely focused it's mid-afternoon now. Kushina was apparently done talking as we left the Uchiha household and went to get a late lunch/early dinner ramen at Ichiraku's.

I like ramen I really do but I would prefer some variety other than tasteless meals at the underground base or ramen. I don't dare say it out loud otherwise the beast mode I saw Kushina transform into might come back again. The meal was mostly in silence as we both didn't want to discuss such a delicate topic out in the open with nosy ninja about.

We went back to Kushina's house but Minato was gone on a mission so nothing happened that night and I went back to base with Saiko leaving Kushina alone. The situation continued for the next couple of months. Both Mikoto and I pressed Kushina to tell him about the baby on the way and she kept on making excuses not to or he wasn't home. It was getting pass the point of being ridiculous and being stupid.

Her baby bump was growing bigger each day and I felt sure she must be using all her skill to keep Minato from noticing or he was just completely oblivious. I was going with the first one and it annoyed me. Final it came down to a shouting match in training ground 3.

"Kushina this has to stop."

"I don't know what you're talking about?" She tried to deny. I tried a different tactic.

"Do you love Minato?"

"Brat! How dare you ask that of course I do." Her face was growing red and she shouted the last part.

"Then you have to tell him." I shouted right back.

"Tell me what?" We both turned Kushina paling and myself in shock. There was Minato standing as carefree as ever right next to us.

"I- We- That is." Kushina sputtered, white in the face, before something snapped in her and she shouted out, "Minato I'm pregnant."

"Oh, is that all?" He said it with a nonchalant attitude like it was nothing big at all. Kushina immediately burst into tears.

"Ah, no, wait I mean I knew you were pregnant." He ran up and wrapped her in a hug. "Did you really think you could hide something like this from me? Getting sick in the mornings and trying to pass it off as the flu. Honey you've never been sick a day in your life and you expect me to believe you can't get better after a month?" He took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is I love you."

Moving away slightly and going down on one knee he took out a box. "Kushina would you marry me?" Kushina was sobbing as he opened the box.

"Yes. Yes I will." Grinning widely Minato slipped the ring onto her left ring finger then stood up and kissed her. It was a lovely scene with them standing in the middle of a clearing and the water sparkling in the sun behind them. It was almost perfect except I could hear giggling.

What? Looking away from the lovebirds who were lost in their own world I looked for the source of the giggling. My eyes widened when I saw the man who started the whole orange book fiasco. He looked ridiculous with two small sticks tucked inside his headband as though they were a form of camouflage. Against my better judgement I made my way over to him.

"Hey mister Jiraiya." I softly called up to him.

"Shh, quiet brat I'm trying to write." He was indeed writing things down in a little notepad. I considered my options. Supposedly Jiraiya was one of the Sannin so he should be super strong so that could mean…

"Hey pervert if you don't teach me a technique I'll alert Kushina you're spying on her." The scratching of pen on paper stopped as he looked down at me.

"Are you trying to blackmail me kid?"

"If I say yes will you teach me a technique?" He snorted at that and put the pen and paper away to jump down next to me. It looked like he took a moment to consider before a wide grin formed on his face.

"I think I've got the perfect technique for you. Now this technique can only be used on the most dastardly of foes. It'll penetrate deep inside them and make them scream for hours. Now watch closely." He made a hand sign and I felt his chakra flow into his mouth. When he opened it his tongue flew out for about 2 meters and wriggled around. Slurping it back in he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Uh, okay it looks odd but if you say so." I want it. Making the necessary hand sign I pumped my chakra into my mouth and I felt my tongue extend from it while I had full control over its motion.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Tongue Extension Jutsu(E Rank Active – 20(16.5)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **A jutsu used to extend the tongue to grab… No, just no. This has almost no practical purpose except to freak people out and make the ladies love you. Enjoy it you pervert.**

I think I broke my power. "Well aren't you the little genius."

"I like to call myself adequate."

"Shiro." Kushina's voice yelled out. I looked over to see her running towards me waving her ring hand. "Look what Minato gave- Jiraiya what are you doing next to Shiro?"

Before he could talk I acted. "Oh sensei it's great. Jiraiya wanted to apologize for giving me that book so he taught me a jutsu to penetrate deep into my foes and make them scream. Watch this." I could see Jiraiya waving frantically not to do it but it was far too late. My 2 meter long tongue shot out and I waved at Kushina with it.

Instant beast mode engaged. Jiraiya gave me a glare then ran away screaming. I didn't even see Kushina pass me I just felt the wind suddenly buffet me as she disappeared. My tongue sucked itself back into my mouth as I let the jutsu end. Minato ambled over to my side.

"Congratulations by the way."

"Thank you. So was this some kind of revenge?" He asked politely as we stared into the forest. I paused for a moment.

"All I'm going to say is that I was so covered in my own blood that the drains at the Uchiha's house had to be replaced because they clogged when it dried. That's my final word on it. Plausible deniability and all that." We continued staring into the forest.

"What would it take to keep your silence?"

"That jutsu you just picked up." 'Really' my stare seemed to say. He looked sheepish but stayed firm with his desire.

"Deal." We shook on it and on the second try he got it down. We continued standing there listening to nature. The forest is really peaceful this time of year. The birds are chirping, the trees rustling, the screams of pain and pleas for mercy drift in the wind. Yes it is very peaceful.

I was dismissed early for the day and I spent the time actually exploring Konoha instead of racing over its roof tops. Despite the war people seemed generally cheerful as though it was an abstract thing that didn't really affect them all that much. It was odd and people behaved as though we had already won and everything that's left is merely clean up actions.

Hearing news directly from both Saiko and Kushina led me to believe that it has turned into a bloody stalemate as we vie back and forth through the smaller nations that sit between our countries. Good propaganda maybe? Regardless my feet took me to the Hokage's mountain and I noticed a small path leading up the side. Having nothing better to do I started walking up the path.

It took a while but the view from the top was spectacular. The entire village was laid out before me and I felt a sense of peace sitting down and watching the village below. The peace was shattered by Saiko appearing next to me.

"Brat put away your head band and put this on." She extended a familiar white mask to me. I threw my head band in my inventory and put on the mask accustomed to the momentary darkness that followed.

"From now until the mission ends I am Ichi. These are Ni and San." Two more chakras flared near me letting me sense how they feel. "You are Yon. There is a group of 10 bandits that have joined up with 3 chunin and 1 genin a day north of here. This is a B rank mission where we will take care of the chunin and you will take the genin. Questions?"

 **Ding! Task Alert**

 **Kill the bandit problem (B Rank)**

 **Kill all hostiles at the site and report back.**

 **Rewards: 500xp, 8000ryo**

I had none as I strapped my tanto to my back. "Good. Let's go." We flickered to the village outskirts and then ran in a diamond formation north with me on the right. There was no talking just hand signals and the occasional chakra flare to other konoha ninja. We set a brutal pace for myself which we kept all the way until 20 minutes before our destination and I was allowed to take the necessary time to recover.

It didn't take long and then we continued at a slower pace until the bandit's hideout was in sight. It was more of a camp than a hideout with tents sprawled everywhere without any discipline. The sun was above the horizon now and the inhabitants of the camp were up and about. We circled the camp and I was directed to target the blond haired girl, the only girl there.

It was a peaceful morning for the people within the camp and then it was not. A roaring snake of fire, even bigger and hotter than when I last saw it, crashed into the camp. Some were lucky and died instantly. Those that were not died screaming and on fire. 4 people dodged out of the way of the inferno although my target did so with some difficulty.

3 of them were met with my squad mates and I engaged my target with a barrage of water bullets. An earthen wall rose to intercept them and I wanted to curse. Of course she was an earth affinity. The wall shattered into pieces creating a shot gun effect and devastating where I had been. A poor log that I replaced with was absolutely devastated by the shrapnel.

I could sense she had gone underground after blowing up the wall in an attempt to hide. Unfortunately for her I could pinpoint her location. _Lightning Senbon_ I thought as dozens of senbon sized bolts of lightning formed and shot into the ground. I could feel her move but not quick enough as the jutsu tore through where she was.

When she surfaced I saw she was in a worsened state. There were a multitude of puncture wounds that littered her legs and arms which she had sacrificed to protect her chest. Not giving her a chance to recover I rushed her with my tanto drawn, creating a water clone on the way. She grimaced, bleeding profusely, and met my charge with a kunai.

My blade crashed against hers and I found her strength superior. Odd and slightly worrying but I hold the advantage. She was bleeding and I am not so now it is just a matter of time. I jumped to the side and let the water whips my clone had formed try to hit her. One succeeded and smashed into her leg. Her retaliatory rock bullet tore him apart and he burst into water.

I could see that each step pained her and her breathing was growing ragged. I could see her growing desperation and with a huge puff of smoke 10 illusionary clones sprang into being and scattered every which way. It was as pointless as hiding underground. A kunai went flying into her knee and she fell to the ground screaming.

As I advanced towards her she tore the kunai out with a shout and turned towards me. "Please I can-" I could hear a meaty thump as the second kunai guided by my Chakra strings entered into the back of her head. I held my alerted state for another minute as I tried to sense the chakra of everything around me.

Earlier in my fight I had felt the chakra of the other three targets vanish one by one and right now my squad were allowing me to sense their chakra to tell me that they were unharmed. The only source of chakra that I could feel in the surrounding area that wasn't one of ours was a civilian level one in the camp. It must not have been a bandit because otherwise they would have taken care of it by now.

Satisfied with the results I strung the dead body upright and cut off her head before I approached. Better safe than dead. Stripping it of all clothing and gear, with a check for traps, I pulled out a body scroll from my inventory sealing her inside for study. All dead ninja are brought back to the village for study. You can find out a lot of things from them. The gruesome task done I focused my full attention back onto the one signature left in camp.

 _Why one alive?_

 _Deal with it._

 **Warning Rape Mentioned Ahead.**

A test of some sort but what kind of test? I approached the still burning campsite with caution. Miraculously one tent had survived with minimal damage and that was where the signature was coming from. "Come out of the tent." I had activated the seal on the mask that changed my voice causing it to become monotone and gender neutral.

The tent shifted and a girl of no more than 12 left it. She was red and slightly burnt from the flames and her only article of clothing was a blanket draped around her shoulders. Her grey eyes were dull and dead as she gazed around at the wreckage. "Did you kill all of them?" Her voice was as dead as her eyes.

"Yes"

"Good." A hint of venom but it fades away. "I would ask a favor of you."

"I will listen but I make no promises." She seems to accept that.

"I would have you kill me." What?

"Why?"

"The bandits killed my family and used me. No one will take in a soiled girl and I will not become a prostitute to survive. So I ask again. Will you kill me?" As she finishes speaking she kneels and the blanket falls off to reveal a bruised and bloody body.

"Do you truly have no wish to live?"

"None." Time seems to stretch between us and then it is gone and reality snaps back into place.

"I shall grant it if you grant me your name."

"Hiko and thank you." A small smile is on her face as her body collapses without a head.

"Ichi." Saiko is right next to me in an instant.

"Did I make the right choice?"

"You made a choice Yon. There is no telling if it was the right one. If you make a choice you must do it decisively and remember that not making a choice is a choice itself."

I ponder that before nodding. "I understand Ichi."

"Good. Create some clones and gather everything useful then we'll head back." It doesn't take long and as we leave the camp is gone, pulled into the earth along with a girl named Hiko.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 3 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 11 - 68% to next LVL**

 **HP: 650/650**

 **Chakra: 11,800/11,800**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 71(78.1)**

 **VIT: 65**

 **END: 70**

 **DEX: 89(97.9)**

 **INT: 57(58.71)**

 **WIS: 54(55.62)**

 **LCK: 13**

 **Points: 55**

 **Money: 39,050**

 **New Skills and updated ones**

 ***Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 70 – 0%: Chakra is what you and others will live and die by. By controlling it you stand above others.**

 **Decreases the cost of active techniques by 17.5%**

 **Increases Chakra control by 70%**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 35%**

 **Water Manipulation (Passive) LVL 40 – 16%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and water chakra as well as the manipulation of water.**

 **Decreases cost of all water techniques by 10%**

 **Increases control of water by 40%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 4%**

 **Lightning Manipulation (Passive) LVL 10 – 16%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and lightning chakra as well as the manipulation of lightning.**

 **Decreases cost of all lightning techniques by 2.5%**

 **Increases control of lightning by 10%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 1%**

 ***Lightning Leaf exercise (Active 10(8.1)/min) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to lightning chakra and back again by 50%.**

 **Tongue Extension Jutsu(E Rank Active – 20(16.5)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **A jutsu used to extend the tongue to grab… No, just no. This has almost no practical purpose except to freak people out and make the ladies love you. Enjoy it you pervert.**

 **Water Clone(C Rank Active – 250(181.25)) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a clone body with 10% capability as the original out of water.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Lightning Senbon (C Rank 250(201)) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Fires multiple senbon sized bolts of piercing lightning.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Paralyzing Palm (D Rank 100(80)) LVL 10 MAX**

 ***Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Kenjutsu (Passive) LVL 8 - 90%**

 **The beginning level of sword play. You could chop off a limb if you're not careful.**

 **Increases speed while using a sword by 40%**


	9. Mito

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Important question to the readers at the bottom.**

The run back to Konoha was just as silent and brutal as the last time. We neared the walls of Konoha and Ni sent out a chakra signal that I didn't recognize but we were allowed in without a glance at us. The first stop was the cadaver and research section of the hospital where we dropped off the four ninja before proceeding back to base. Once we were settled in everyone but Saiko left me to write out the mission report. Lazy bastards.

It was easy enough to write except the last portion with Hiko as I wasn't sure how to properly convey what happened in the standard mission format. Saiko's advice of writing from a third person perspective helped and I finished the report shortly afterwards. Handing the report in to an office within the base we received our pay and Saiko brought me back to our training room.

She motioned me to sit and I did so as I slid the money into my inventory. "You know the deal. After action report. Think on what you did wrong and right and then I'll go." I gathered my thoughts before I began to speak.

"I was faster than my opponent and I used that to my advantage but also weaker than her physically. When I saw that she had earth release jutsu's I switched to lightning to gain a type advantage when necessary. I should not have engaged her in close combat when it became apparent that I was winning the jutsu fight as I had no idea of her proficiency in that area. I'll reserve the portion with Hiko for later."

She nods at my view of how things went. "Good you identified that it was a mistake when you engaged in close combat. Your fight went well otherwise and you survived without a mark against an ambushed low level genin. Your handling of her body was cautious but fine and you kept mission standard operating procedure even after there were no confirmed presences in the area. Now we get to Hiko."

"Hiko was something unexpected and I want to know if there were any options that I did not consider that could be used in the future." She tilts her head at that.

"So you aren't regretting your decision?"

"No, you said to be decisive when you make a choice and I chose. I'm simply seeking more options so I can make a more informed decision if this happens again." She was silent as though considering something.

"Alright tell me what your thought process was and I'll tell you some more options." Okay here it goes.

"Taking her back to the base was a nonchoice from the beginning." She made a grunt of approval. "I considered simply leaving her alive but her posture and words made me think she would commit suicide if I didn't kill her. In addition after leaving she might have chosen to live and I had no idea what, if any, information she had that could potentially endanger us. Therefore I made the choice to grant her request."

She nods at that. "It was a well thought out decision but there was another option that I could think of off the top of my head. She had no connections or anything tying her down. You could have brought her back to be mind wiped and sent out as a programed deep cover agent to hotspots where information is needed. She would have been a street urchin or prostitute but she could have given valuable information in the process."

That is horrifying. "Sensei did you suggest something far more horrible just to make me feel better about my choice?"

Her answer is short and to the point. "No."

"I see. Have you ever used that option before?"

She hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "Yes." I needed a few seconds to process that.

"Anything for the sake of the Village, huh?"

"Anything and everything. That is what it means to be a ninja."

"I understand sensei." And I do. Those that don't embrace the darkness will be consumed by it. She must have seen something or heard something when I spoke because all she did was nod her approval. I did want to ask something though.

"Was this mission picked just so I could fight to the death against a genin level opponent?" I inquired.

"Yes. It was used to give you a taste of ninja fights in a moderately controlled condition."

"You guys wouldn't have stepped in unless I was about to die, right?"

"Correct."

Not giving me time to stew in this new information she switched topics. "Now that Kushina is pregnant you will be spending more time with me as she gets further along. In addition you will be called on to complete more B rank missions like the one you just completed. Do you have any questions?" I did not and I was dismissed to train for the rest of the afternoon.

 **Ding! Task Complete.**

~Interlude~ Danzo

I'm actually taking a break from the nonstop paperwork right now. It feels so good to close my eye and just take a sip of tea. Saiko interrupts my peace by flickering in front of my desk. Suppressing the urge to sigh I mentally shift back into work mode. "Report."

"Shiro has successfully completed his first assigned B rank mission." I motion her to continue. She wouldn't have come if there wasn't a complication. "Upon completing the objective of killing the enemy ninja we discovered a civilian girl still alive within the camp." Ah, I could see this becoming a test for him.

"We left the girl for Shiro to deal with and the impression that this was a test of some sort. The girl, Hiko, turned out to be suicidal and requested that he kill her. Questioning her briefly he granted her request and then immediately turned to me to validate his choice."

"Was he disturbed by it?" She shakes her head in the negative.

"He seemed to be just seeking whether his choice was the correct one. I told him that no choices are right just make sure to have the ability to decisively follow through with his choice." I hummed at that. Good so far.

"Later back at the base after our after action report he questioned me once more about his choice whereupon he explained his thought process before killing the girl. It was sound and he asked me for more options that would allow him to make a more informed decision." She paused and I motioned her to continue.

"I told him about mind wipes and reprograming to test him for squeamishness on a necessary tool available to us and he seemed to understand that to be a ninja is to give anything and everything for the village." My mind couldn't help but go back to his words.

"Make the enemies die for theirs." I muttered. "Continue."

"It is my belief that certain missions could be stepped up without adverse effects on his psyche." I filed that away and dismissed her so I could enjoy my last moments of peace before my tea grew cold. Unfortunately it was not to be as another Root agent kneeled before me. God damn it.

~Interlude end~

The next few months seemed slow to me. As Kushina got further and further along in her pregnancy I found myself becoming more of a glorified gopher and foot massage peon than an apprentice. Wait maybe that was the other way around? Either way I found that Kushina was in no mood to teach many new things which was fine as I got to improve what I already had. A solid foundation is more important than a multitude of jutsu that I barely knew how to use. She did teach me one new technique though.

 **Water Wall (C Rank Active(250(174))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a 5x5 meter wall of water that can be used further after being created.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 *** Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

My training with Saiko had also cut down as she was called to the frontlines and the bloodbath that was taking place there. She did manage to teach me one new lightning jutsu though. My first B rank jutsu.

 **Lightning Spear (B Rank Active(500(384))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a spear of lightning that shoots from the user's mouth to penetrate their target.**

 **Decreases time by 50%**

 *** Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 ***Lightning Machine (Passive) LVL 2 – 45%**

 **Creates up to 2 more spears when the skill is used**

Leveling up lightning spear took most of my time as it leveled the slowest and I got kind of excited to have my first B rank jutsu so I focused on it more than I probably should have. The rest of the time was spent focusing on improving my base stats and taking the odd mission that popped up. They were mostly C ranks that Kushina felt comfortable, and able to do, but there were a few B ranks mixed in there as well.

Right now I was meditating in the base to regain my chakra after I had depleted it. I was nearly full when Saiko showed up next to me. I opened my eyes to greet her and I was startled at what I saw. She looked like a mess. Large splotches of dried and drying blood were splattered all over her armor and clothes. Her body language screamed exhausted and she had a finger stuck in the webbing of her jacket. I think I should mention that.

"Sensei are you alright?" I quickly stood up and made my way over to her.

"I'm fine. I got hit once or twice but the medics patched me up and nothing a good day or three of sleep won't fix. I'm only up to inform you that you have a B rank mission waiting for you at the office and now I'm going to go to bed." Oh this'll be the first mission without Kushina or Saiko with me.

"Of course sensei. Have a good sleep and did you know that there is a finger stuck in your webbing?" She looks down.

"Huh, when did that get there?" She picks it out and burns it to ash. "Night brat."

"Goodnight sensei." She leaves and I make my way over to the mission desk. I finally know the route to some specific places. It took so long because I found out that Saiko was purposely leading me in circles sometimes. When I confronted her about it she muttered something about finally getting it.

I made my over to the mission desk as quickly as I could and when I got there I saw another Root agent waiting along with one sitting behind the desk. "Shiro, no name, reporting for B rank mission." The person behind the desk pulled a scroll towards them and read it.

"Nona, no name, and Hiro, no name, age 8 were seen leaving the village 4 hours ago. Both were allowed to leave but they missed their duty stations and are now considered AWOL. Find them and ascertain if they were held up somewhere or turned traitor. You will be partnered with Fumi and for the duration of this mission he will be Ichi and you will be Ni. Ichi will be the tracker and you will apprehend them. Are there any questions?" I have one actually.

"Do either of them have any unusual abilities?"

"No, both have fire affinity and D rank fire jutsu at their disposal." I nodded and as we were dismissed I followed Ichi.

 **Ding! Task gained.**

 **Traitors to the Leaf? B Rank**

 **Find and if necessary kill the traitors.**

 **Rewards: 500xp, 5000ryo**

Ichi led me to what I assume was their rooms and he picked up several articles of clothing for each before we left their rooms. Next he led me to where they were seen exiting Konoha and brought each article of clothing to his mask giving them all a deep sniff. Some type of bloodline or maybe just a really good sense of smell. Hopefully it's a technique so I could learn it.

My musings were cut short as Ichi shot off like a bloodhound and I had to race to catch up to him. We stopped several times for him to sniff the clothing again and once or twice we had to double back but 4 hours later we came upon their camp. My turn. I sent out my chakra senses to their limits but found nothing but the two genin and a fuzzy awareness of Ichi. Congratulating myself on finally being able to vaguely sense high level people I approached their camp cautiously.

They were conversing quietly by the small fire that they had going but they sprang to their feet once I entered the light. "Nona and Hiro you have missed your assigned duty times and have been found to be AWOL. What do have to say for yourselves?" My voice was modified to sound as monotone as possible and it seemed to freak them out a bit.

Hiro was the one that spoke up. "We didn't want to." Nona tugs on his shirt desperately.

"They already found us. Please Hiro let's just go back." She doesn't seem like she wanted to be here at all. It would seem that Hiro wanted to leave and she was trying to convince him to stay.

"No, I don't want to be a ninja anymore." He sounds like a whining child which he is I suppose.

"Hiro and Nona is it your intention to abandon your duty as ninja and be declared as traitors?" At the word traitors Nona starts shaking violently.

"Yes we're never going back and they're nothing you can do to stop it." Hiro shouts out. Idiot I gave you so many chances. I turned my attention to Nona.

"Nona, Hiro has declared his intention to turn traitor. What is your intention? Will you turn traitor as well?" She's shaking so badly now it looks like she's having trouble standing up.

"N-n-no." It was a stutter and barely loud enough to hear but her intentions are clear. Hiro turned towards her looking stunned and betrayed.

"But Nona he's so small we can take-" Three lightning spears create 3 fist sized holes in his chest and penetrate into the ground in front of him. They both stare wide eyed at the sudden violence before Hiro coughs and collapses on the ground dead.

As soon as his body hit the ground Nona started to vomit. "As a loyal ninja of Konoha please lay face down on the ground with your arms and legs apart for your detainment." She didn't seem to be registering what I said so I repeated myself.

Slowly she came out of her shock and sent me such a hate filled glare I thought I would have to kill another person today. She surprised me by complying and I tied her up then searched her for weapons. The entire time she just glared at me as though willing me to die. Right before I slapped the prisoner seal on her she spat out one thing. "I hate you."

Pausing I replied. "As long as you remain a loyal kunoichi of the village I don't care." I applied the seal to her forehead and she slumped unconscious. The water clone fell apart as I walked out from behind a tree. Collecting the body of Hiro in a scroll I set Nona's limp body on my shoulder and jumped to Ichi's position.

"You talked quite a bit there." He said as we began the journey back to Konoha.

"I wanted to make sure I didn't kill a loyal member of the Leaf." I was being completely honest with him and I think he saw that because he didn't question me again. The journey back didn't take that long now that we didn't have to 'slowly' follow a trail someone left behind. Ichi left me as soon as we entered the South Gate and I went to the Torture and Interrogation (TI) department with Nona.

Filling them in about the circumstances of her arrest and a possibly traitorous mindset I left to go turn Hiro's body over to the cadaver section of the hospital. I knew that they would have a Yamanaka come in and look through Nona's head later. If she planned to betray the village later then she would die as simple as that. Feeling slightly peeved at having to do all the paperwork again I finished my report and brought it back to headquarters.

Standing in front of the desk I handed over the report and began my verbal recounting. "Shiro, no name, and Fumi, no name, successfully completed B rank mission number 34872 retrieval of two AWOL genin. No casualties sustained. One traitor dead, one possible loyalist at TI awaiting processing. No other abnormalities." My report was skimmed over and I was given my payment then dismissed.

 **Ding! Task Complete.**

The rhythm of training and missions continued. Sometimes I would go with Saiko on easier missions and sometimes I wouldn't. Kushina had stopped going on missions completely now and she was about 9 months pregnant. Whenever I saw Minato nowadays he always looked tired as he juggled a pregnant wife, his missions for the war effort and his genin team whom I've never really met.

Sure we've introduced ourselves to each other but we didn't have any time to just hang out. All of us were busy in our own ways and I don't think they really wanted to hang out with a 3 year old no matter that I'm already a ninja or not. So my life continued onwards until one day I opened up my status page and saw something had changed.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 4 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL**

 **HP: 690/690**

 **Chakra: 13,041/13,041**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 79(86.9)**

 **VIT: 69**

 **END: 75**

 **DEX: 92(101.2)**

 **INT: 60(62.4)**

 **WIS: 58(60.32)**

 **LCK: 15**

 **Points: 70**

 **Money: 74,540**

Oh, I'm four now. Funny how time seems to just fly by you sometimes. The extra year doesn't really change anything for me personally. I didn't receive any sudden power up or message changing anything it was just a number change on a screen. That's kind of a sad way to look at being one year older actually.

I pull myself out of my thoughts as I reached Kushina's house. She could go into labor any day now and any training I get from her is curtailed by this fact. I mostly practice pure chakra or water manipulation when I'm with her now so she doesn't need to leave the house. Politely knocking on the door I wait for Kushina to yell "Come in" before I enter.

I could feel the chakra of three other people besides Kushina in the house and I idly wondered why Rin and Obito were over as I shut the door behind me. "Come on into the living room Shiro." Kushina called out. As I rounded the corner 5 people jumped out and shouted, "Surprise."

I'm very proud to say that I merely jumped onto the ceiling instead of unleashing a jutsu. "Shiro get down from there." Kushina yelled up to me good naturedly. "We have cake." They did indeed have a cake. Two in fact.

"Why do you have two cakes?" I asked as I dropped down from the ceiling.

"One's to celebrate your birthday, silly, and the other is to celebrate Kakashi getting promoted to jonin recently." Really a jonin at 11? That's amazing. I turned to him and he just looked bored or at least his body posture did. It was kind of hard to tell with the half face mask he always had on.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Kakashi." He waved it off like it was nothing and maybe for him it was. Rank doesn't necessarily mean ability. Whatever. Rin and Obito had wished me a happy birthday and now they were quietly talking in the corner. About what I expect from them really as we don't really know each other. Maybe I should get to know them better soon.

I made a mental commitment to do so as Minato walked over. "Happy birthday Shiro and congratulations for the first year anniversary of being a ninja." I think he meant good job surviving for a year but I'll take it.

"Thank you. I didn't expect a birthday celebration at all." He rubs his head sheepishly.

"We kind of didn't know until a day before that it was your birthday." I wave it off. I don't really remember telling anyone either so either Kushina looked it up or maybe Saiko told her about it. Doesn't really matter either way I get cake.

"Shiro." Kushina was sitting down at the table next to the cake. "Come over here and… Oh." Everyone stopped and looked at Kushina when she made an odd sound. "Minato I think my water just broke." It was said so calmly and matter of fact that it took a moment to register in everyone's brains as being important. Then everyone was in a flurry of action as we all shouted at each other and ran around aimlessly. Kushina's furious shout cut through all the noise.

"Everyone shut up!" Her hair was beginning to form into its beast mode. "Minato we need to go tell the Hokage and then go to that place." Why would they need to tell the Hokage about a baby? My eyes slightly widened in realization. Could having a baby affect the seal? Shit, this could be bad. I was brought out of my thoughts as 4 ANBU appeared in the room.

"Kushina Namikaze-Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze you are to follow us." They both nodded and ignoring her protest Minato picked her up princess style. All 6 of them flickered out of the room leaving the 4 of us behind.

"Well that was exciting." My deadpan humor was not appreciated if the 3 sets of glares was any indication. Everyone's a critic I thought irritably as I sat down at the table. Pulling the cake close I cut a slice and proceeded to eat it.

"How can you eat so calmly? Right now your sensei is having a baby." Rin's shout was right next to my enhanced ear and I stopped eating the delicious chocolate cake to rub at it.

"I can't do anything to change the outcome right now. All I can do is wait for her to return and I have faith that sensei will come back unharmed and be back to kicking my ass by tomorrow." I paused. "New born baby included."

They all seemed mollified by that and the next 10 hours or so were spent in terse silence. Nobody seemed really willing to talk and despise my mental note to get to know them better it wasn't really the time to do so. Finally Minato appeared looking haggard but incredibly happy. Good news I hope.

"Gather round everyone." We did so and he started talking again. "First let me start off with the fact that Kushina gave birth to a beautiful baby girl." He grinned widely as we congratulated the new father. "Secondly, Kushina is going to be fine. The birth was hard on her but almost immediately afterwards they almost had to sedate her to keep her in bed. Now as much as I would like to show you guys my child we have an important mission tomorrow so go home and prepare for that."

Rin and Obito started protesting immediately while Kakashi had resumed his bored look. In the end both of them left while Kakashi and I stayed. Kakashi because he lived here and myself because I had nothing better to do at the moment. Once they were gone Minato started to talk to me.

"First off Kushina said she was sorry she interrupted your birthday party." I had to raise an eyebrow at that. Did she really think I would hold it against her or the baby for deciding that it wanted to be born?

"It's completely fine. The intent was there and that's all that mattered to me." He smiles at that.

"Good. Secondly, my team and I will be gone for about a week or so on our mission. While I'm gone could you watch over your sensei and my child?"

"Of course I will. Do you have a name for her yet?"

"Kushina wanted to name her after her mentor so her name is Mito Namikaze-Uzumaki." Mito, I test the name in my head. It's a good name.

"Could I go see sensei now?" I asked. His face scrunched in thought.

"I don't see why you couldn't go now. She's in room number 348. They might not let you in though and don't try to sneak in. It'll end badly for you." He started slowly but at the end his voice was more of a warning.

"Please excuse me I want to go try to see her now. Congratulations on becoming a father." I gave a bow and he ruffled my hair as I stood up.

"You're a good kid. Kushina's lucky to have an apprentice like you." I gave a slight smile for his praise and then left to go to the hospital. At first the receptionist was entirely unhelpful and kept rebuking my efforts to enter even after I told her I was Kushina's apprentice, as good as a son in ninja terms, until she pulled a complete 180. After that she was completely helpful as though she had been given some signal that I was trustworthy enough to visit Kushina.

That was probably the case I mused as the door to room 348 opened. Kushina was laying in the hospital bed looking more rumpled than usual with a small baby nestled against her chest. She looked up as I entered then put a finger to her lips in the universal sign to be quiet. Closing the door as softly as I could I made my way over to her bed.

Sitting on a conveniently place chair I motioned towards the sleeping Mito. Kushina smiled proudly and carefully moved to allow me to see her sleeping face. She was wrapped up in a blanket so that only her head was sticking out. On top of her head there was a small amount of fuzzy red hair and while I couldn't see her eyes, obviously, she had cute little baby cheeks. The motion disturbed her and she grumbled slightly before settling back to sleep. Kushina smiled at me then signed.

 _Congratulations big brother._

A warm tingly feeling spread throughout my body before calm acceptance washed it away. I didn't care. The fact that I felt it meant everything to me.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 4 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL**

 **HP: 690/690**

 **Chakra: 13,041/13,041**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 79(86.9)**

 **VIT: 69**

 **END: 75**

 **DEX: 92(101.2)**

 **INT: 60(62.4)**

 **WIS: 58(60.32)**

 **LCK: 15**

 **Points: 70**

 **Money: 74,540**

 **Skills that have changed or been added.**

 ***Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 75 – 0%: Chakra is what you and others will live and die by. By controlling it you stand above others.**

 **Decreases the cost of active techniques by 18.75%**

 **Increases Chakra control by 75%**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 37.5%**

 ***Water Manipulation (Passive) LVL 61 – 16%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and water chakra as well as the manipulation of water.**

 **Decreases cost of all water techniques by 15.25%**

 **Increases control of water by 61%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 6.1%**

 **Lightning Manipulation (Passive) LVL 35 – 16%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and lightning chakra as well as the manipulation of lightning.**

 **Decreases cost of all lightning techniques by 8.75%**

 **Increases control of lightning by 35%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 3.5%**

 ***Kenjutsu (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **The beginning level of sword play. You could chop off a limb if you're not careful.**

 **Increases speed while using a sword by 50%**

 **Intermediate (Passive) LVL 6 – 54%**

 **Increases speed while using a sword by 30%**

 ***Learned Meditation (Passive/Active) LVL 46 – 18%: Warning cannot use in battle. To know oneself body and mind. Meditation has been used for centuries to center oneself and for relaxation now you have started on the same path as though before you.**

 **Passive Effect: Increase INT and WIS by 4%**

 **Active Effect: Increases Chakra Regeneration by 56/min**

 ***Sneak (Active) LVL 64 – 0%**

 **Sneaky, sneaky, stabby stabby. A ninja must be able to move through the shadows as if he is one himself. A master can emerge from hiding, kill, and fade away like a ghost. 44% movement penalty while using this.**

 **64% chance of going unnoticed while sneaking.**

 ***Sense Chakra (Passive/Active) LVL 40 – 5%: Your senses expand and you can feel the Chakra of others all around you. To actively scan you must remain still for 20 seconds and costs 10(8.1) Chakra.**

 **Passive Range: 40 meters**

 **Active Range: 200 meters**

 **Lightning Spear (B Rank Active(500(362))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a spear of lightning that shoots from the user's mouth to penetrate their target.**

 **Decreases time by 50%**

 *** Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 ***Lightning Machine (Passive) LVL 8 – 5%**

 **Creates up to 8 more spears when the skill is used**

 **Alright question time. As soon as I got to the point where Shiro saw Mito for the first time my brain basically exploded in thought. In my original plan Mito was going to be a small side sister figure that wasn't going to impact his life much until later down the line(No this does not mean as a lover or anything of that nature it would have been familial love). Then I thought most OC stories have main characters that ultimately stand alone at the end of a story because they've grown so strong no one could stand as their equal. Even if they find love their lover usually never makes it to the big boys table and ends up just being someone the main character can come back to. So I thought 'hey why can't Mito be someone who's story has already ended and they were already strong in their own right? Why can't he have a light to his shadow like Hiruzen and Danzo?' Shiro would still be the main character but there would be another player on the board causing even more ripples than he already has. Ripples that we will see later down the line. So what I'm asking is should Mito be a character pulled from some other genre? I have a good idea of who but I'm open to suggestions.**

 **Thanks for reading and have a great day.**

 **p.s. Did you know the reason Shiro doesn't have tons of skills is because I have 3 separate word and excel spread sheets just to keep track of modifiers, buffs and debuffs? Skills that make it onto his character sheet and then skills that don't like clan politics and geography. During those months that I don't show he isn't just mindlessly grinding at a skill. It's getting confusing to keep track of it all.**


	10. Angel's Breath

**Author's Note: I've decided to put off the decision until Mito turns 1 or 2 just so that I can continue to write in the meantime. Thank you for those who have suggested characters including Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail and Risa from High school DXD. I hope the skills that Shiro gains in this chapter aren't too overpowered but let me know if you think they are. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day.**

I left Kushina and Mito after Kushina and I briefly chatted using sign language so we didn't wake her. It was mostly me just congratulating Kushina on becoming a parent and her being irritated that she had to stay in the hospital. I think she suffers from acute boredom when she can't move around and the only reason she hadn't made a break for it is the sleeping bundle of joy on her chest. Saying my goodbyes I quietly opened the door and left her behind.

The sky was beginning to darken by the time I left the hospital so I decided to make my way back to base. Walking through the maze like tunnels was still confusing but I made it back to my room easily enough. Seeing that Saiko wasn't there I shrugged and letting myself rise into the air with chakra strings I began to work on my lightning manipulation. That was how Saiko found me later that night. Hovering in the air as lightning danced between my fingers.

"Come on down from there brat." Hello to you to sensei. I thought as she snapped at me as soon as she appeared. Never the less I dropped back down to the ground to stand before her.

"Hello sensei. What are we working on today?" I politely inquired.

"I didn't come here to train you today. I came here to inform you that after tomorrow morning I'll be gone for about a week." My head tilted at that. Minato and his team were leaving for a week tomorrow as well. Were we going on a big offensive at the moment? I thought about asking but in the end I decided against it. If we were it was probably a strictly need to know basis and I didn't need to know.

"I see. Please stay safe Saiko." She ruffled my hair in response.

"Keep up your training while I'm gone and for the next week or so you shouldn't have any missions. Help Kushina settle into motherhood, alright?" I noticed that she didn't try to tempt fate at all. Ninja can be extremely superstitious sometimes.

"I will." She left and I settled back into my previous position. The night seemed to pass slowly and as I left the base the next day I could feel a mass of ninja leaving Konoha. I guess it is a big offensive then I mused as I headed towards the hospital. When I got there I found out that Kushina had checked herself and Mito out earlier in the morning.

I guess she couldn't take laying around for that long. I'm actually surprised she lasted the entire night. Checking both her home and Ichiraku's restaurant revealed no Kushina or Mito. I did order 3 bowls of miso ramen to go and slipped them into my inventory when no one was looking. Kushina will appreciate it after a whole day without her drug of choice. The only other place I could think to look would be Mikoto's place so I made my way over there.

The guards at the gate waved me on through without a hassle and as I got closer to Mikoto's home I felt the familiar sun that is Kushina within. I knocked politely on the door and waited. Soon enough it opened to reveal Itachi.

"Hello Itachi I haven't seen you in a while. We'll have to catch up in a bit but first could you take me to Kushina?"

"Hello Shiro, Kushina is in the living room with my mother. Follow me." I took off my sandals and followed him to the living room. As we got closer I could hear excited talking and baby babble that everyone does when confronted with a baby.

As we entered the living room I saw Kushina and Mikoto sitting side by side with Mito fussing in Kushina's arms. I made my way over and Kushina looked up with a wide smile on her face. "Shiro come meet Mito for the first time."

She looked back down and carefully moved her tiny hand back and forth in a wave. "Mito this is your big brother Shiro. He might seem cold and collected but he's really a sweetie on the inside. Say hi." She moves Mito's hand again. Is that how others see me? I wondered.

Dropping down on one knee I let Mito's other hand grasp my finger. "Pleased to meet you Mito." Emerald eyes met unfocused blue eyes as I noted how similar she looked to Kushina. She began to fuss again and I carefully removed my finger from her grasp.

"Hello Mikoto." I greeted her as it would have been quite rude to ignore her in her own house. She returned my greeting with a smile and I turned my attention back to Kushina.

"I was looking for you this morning but I couldn't find you for a bit. I did pick up something for you though." Pulling the 3 miso ramen bowls out of my inventory I set them on the table in front of her. She was looking at them and literally crying tears of happiness.

Pulling me into a one arm hug she then began to devour them with gusto. "See what I mean Mito. Your big brother is the best person in the whole wide world." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mikoto's face was in open shock and her eyes were set in the infamous red of the sharingan. Looking around at Itachi his eyes were also widened.

What? What happened? All I did was… oh. I used my inventory in front of them. I felt like smacking myself. Saiko's words of guarding information come back to me and I shudder at how my next training session with her will be like.

"Ah, wow how did those bowls get there? Haha." Wow that sounded horrible. Kushina even looked up from her ramen at that, a most heinous thing to ignore ramen, and caught sight of Mikoto's eyes.

"Oi, Mikoto put those things away. It's a bloodline secret." Almost instantly her eyes returned to normal and she stood up from the couch to bow at me.

"I apologize for my rudeness. Taking the ramen out of thin air startled me but I should not have pried like I did." Ah, how did this go again?

I stood up to my full height. "There is no need to apologize I performed an unknown technique within your house and you had every right to investigate. I simply ask that you do not pry into the affairs of my bloodline." Like that's going to not happen. Ninja are a truly curious bunch and I did the equivalent of dangling a steak in front of a starving dog. This was just the polite talk that came after revealing a portion of information and then getting caught seeking answers.

Even Kushina let out a snort at that then went back to eating. Mikoto straightened from her bow and gave me a demure smile. "Of course. Why don't you and Itachi go and play while Kushina and I chat for a bit."

"Of course." I'll leave you to pry Kushina for information then. I turned to Itachi and we left to go to the garden. We sat down underneath one of the trees facing each other.

"So you were gone for a while. Where did you go?" I started playing with a piece of grass as I spoke.

Itachi's normally impassive face hardened and he gained a far off look in his eyes. It took him a while before he began to speak and even when he did it sounded slightly haunted.

"My father brought me near the frontlines for my birthday." I started at that. Wow what a shitty birthday present. I hope he's okay but he really doesn't look it. "He brought me to several of the main collection points for bodies and told me that this was the harsh world that we lived in. He told me I had to be strong. Strong enough to prevent this from happening to my clan, my family. They looked like hills from the distance until you got close enough to smell them. Flies were everywhere and you could smell the rotting or burning flesh as they set fire to some piles."

Father of the year right here. God Itachi is almost ready to enroll into the academy and I have no doubt that given a few years he will be a force to be reckoned with. Showing him that this early in his life could have broken him. What where you doing?

"He shouldn't have done that Itachi. I'm sorry." His onyx eyes focus on me as I said that.

"You've seen something similar or you've killed before haven't you?" I wanted to curse. Sometimes being around a genius is difficult. Try to skirt around it.

"What makes you think that?"

"You didn't flinch at all from my description at all. How old were you when you first killed?" I'm not even sure I can talk about it with the seal. I'll give it a try I guess.

"Three."

"I see." He closes his eyes and leans back against the tree. Silence descends between us and I let him take the time to gather his thoughts. Opening his eyes and focusing on me he begins to talk.

"I will seek peace now. War is something that no one should have to experience."

I tilt my head at that. "What do you mean peace and how will you seek it?"

"I would see an end to all conflict and I do not know how I will achieve it." His stare is intense and I have to take a moment to focus my thoughts.

"All conflict? Would you have an end to every argument between people or would this be an end to the violence between villages?" He seems confused and I continue. "If you seek to end every conflict you will need to take away a part of what makes us human. Our anger, our jealousy and all the other negative emotions that are a part of us." The widening of his eyes reveals that he had not considered this.

"If you do this you will not be creating peace but the enslavement of free will and people will always oppose something like that. If on the other hand you seek to end the conflicts between the villages you will need something."

"What would I need?" He asked.

"Power." I said plainly. "Enough power to make the kages stop and listen for fear of angering you. Enough that the daimyos keep their armies at home. Enough that everyone will take notice of you and listen when you talk." He's listening closely now.

"Only then once people fear you enough not to go against you will you be able to set the framework for lasting peace. With enough power you could get the kages to sit down and talk instead of threaten or coerce one another. As they talk they could grow to trust one another and through trust comes friendship. From friendship comes alliances and from that comes comradery." I give him a small smile. "Once you are comrades you have no reason to fight."

I could see his mind at work as he processed that. "There will still be conflict after we are comrades though." I nod at that.

"Even in peace there will always be conflict because not everyone is created equal and not everyone has the same level of power. That power can mean money, influence or even personal might but unless everyone is equal there will still be conflict."

He closes his eyes again. "You make it sound as though peace is impossible."

I shake my head even if he can't see it. "True peace is impossible but if you aim for peace between the villages as we unite together to make the world a better place." I smile. "That is possible."

"You sound as though you've thought about this a lot." His eyes are still closed.

"I never sleep so I have a lot of time to think." I don't mind telling him that. It's not information that can really be used against me and I think he knows the importance of secrets.

"Do you aim for peace as well then?"

I thought about it for a while before answering. "I aim to allow those I care for experience peace. I don't dream big enough to try for world peace. Without sleep I don't really dream at all actually." I don't tell him I'd let the rest of the world burn to allow them their peace. I don't think that's something he'd like to hear.

Silence fell between us as we both got lost in our thoughts. Finally Itachi spoke up again. "Thank you for showing me a path to peace even if you don't walk it."

"Just because I don't walk in front doesn't mean I won't walk behind." He gave a thoughtful nod at that and I heard Kushina shouting my name from inside the house. "If you'll excuse me my sensei seems to be calling for me. Have a pleasant day Itachi." I left him there under the shade of the tree and together with Kushina we went back to her house.

For the next week I spent most of my time at Kushina's house either training or watching over Mito. I don't think Kushina has ever been more grateful of my ability to not sleep than she was that week. Mito constantly woke up in the middle of the night and while most of the time I was able to get her back to sleep sometimes she needed food which meant that I had to wake Kushina up. At the end of the first week she was looking a little haggard even with my help.

I was sitting on the couch with Mito in my arms, rocking her gently, when I heard the door open. Kushina was cleaning dishes when it happened and with a yell of, "Minato," she ran for the door. I stood up carefully and made my way over. Kushina was hugging Minato, who looked sad, while Rin and Kakashi stood behind him. Kakashi had a bandage over his left eye and both of them looked like they were injured.

Where was Obito? Minato caught sight of me standing there holding Mito and gently disengaging with his wife he walked over. "Hey there baby girl, how are you? It's me, your father." He made to hold her and I carefully placed her into his arms. "I've missed both you and your mother so much." Giving her a kiss on her brow and a real one to Kushina he motioned us over to the living room area.

Once everyone was situated he began to explain what happened. He told us about how he had to leave the team with Kakashi in charge, Kakashi flinched at that, and how he had gone on to reinforce a vulnerable portion of the frontline. How he had singlehandedly slaughtered over a 1000 enemy ninja by himself with the use of his recently completed jutsu and how he had to rescue a battered Rin and Kakashi from enemy forces.

Kakashi took over at that point and told us about his disastrous first mission in command and how Rin had been kidnapped and they had been forced to rescue her. That Obito had died a hero and given Kakashi his newly awakened sharingan as he died. As they battled enemy forces Minato had arrived from his slaughter and saved them then went on to complete their objective to destroy Kannabi Bridge.

I could tell they were leaving out quite a bit of their story but I didn't ask for more details. Just talking about it seemed like it was causing both Rin and Kakashi pain. Both of them were enveloped into a hug by Kushina as the story ended. They both seemed to draw back from it at first and then like a dam bursting they both started crying on her shoulders.

I frowned when a chakra signal started pulsing outside the house. It meant I had to return to base. Minato looked at me and nodded. I quietly slipped out of the house and left them to their grief. The Root agent motioned me to follow him and I did so. They brought me a portion of the base that I had never been before and as the wall slid down it revealed a hospital. Why… Saiko!

I rushed over to her bed. Her brown hair was matted and dirty while her black eyes focused on me as I neared. She was missing her left arm and right leg at the knee. "Saiko!" She chuckled.

"Don't be so worried brat. It's just an arm and a leg. You should see what I did to the one who did this to me." I felt fury before it was washed away by calm.

"Please don't joke about this sensei."

Here voice became as sharp as a blade. "How else am I supposed to deal with this?" She stopped and then sighed. "It's fine Shiro. My kunoichi days are over and there is nothing anyone can do about it." I could.

The words thundered in my skull and no matter what I did they stayed at the forefront of my mind. I could save her. I knew my power was able to develop powers outside the norm but I had refrained from doing so. I was already abnormal enough and I didn't want that to change from abnormal to threat. If I became perceived as a threat by the village I had no chance of surviving yet I could save her.

I could create a healing power to bring back her limbs and heal her wounds. A healing power wouldn't be taken as threatening would it? I tried to rationalize it in my mind. I could then go on to save other loyal ninja of Konoha. My importance would increase and I would be allowed more leeway and possibly skills in exchange. An increased importance means greater enemies a traitorous part of my mind said. Stay abnormal and increase your ability to fight before you do this. It's not like she's dying she just lost 2 limbs. I slapped that portion back down.

Testing the waters I thought of a power to restore people to full health and a screen popped up before me.

 **Ding! The skill you want to learn requires the following:**

 **INT 100**

 **WIS 80**

I wanted to bite my lips at that. It would require 62 of my stored 70 points to achieve. People would also take note of such a large jump in chakra as well. There would be repercussions of this I thought. Serious ones that I have no ability to predict. She's one of the few people here you try to care about a portion of my mind spoke up. If you don't do this than what are you but an emotionless killing machine? Who would want to stand by such a thing?

That decided it. I liked human interaction even if I couldn't feel regular emotions. It kept me sane enough to face every day. Without it I would be lost. I put the points in.

"Arghhh." I fell to the ground clutching my head as I felt my mind readjusting itself. My thoughts sped up and it felt like a fog had been lifted.

 **Ding!**

 **For reaching 100 INT Lesser Chakra Pool has evolved into Chakra Pool.**

 **Chakra Pool (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 20% increase in Chakra capacity**

 **Random ability rolled for. Random ability gained.**

 **Photographic Memory (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants exactly what it sounds like. Now you no longer need to worry about forgetting anything.**

I struggled through the pain and waived off the glowing green hands of the medics trying to help me. Saiko's voice sounded worried but I didn't pay attention to it. Now for the skill.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Angel's Breath ( S+ Rank Active(10,000(8,125))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Restores the target to optimal health. Cures wounds and regrows limbs. Cannot be used more than 3 times per day. Cannot be used on self.**

 **Decreases casting time by 1%**

A stream of hand signs flowed into my head. The skill used 240 hand signs in total so an eternity to cast in combat. I shook my head to clear it and checked my stats.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 4 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL**

 **HP: 690/690**

 **Chakra: 22,806/22,806**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 79(86.9)**

 **VIT: 69**

 **END: 75**

 **DEX: 92(101.2)**

 **INT: 100(104)**

 **WIS: 80(83.2)**

 **LCK: 15**

 **Points: 8**

 **Money: 74,540**

I stood up and ignored the hovering medics and the wide eyed stares from the rest of the room. What they've never seen a guy double his chakra pool in a second? I focused on Saiko who was giving me worried looks.

"Saiko I know how to give you back your limbs. Do I have your permission to perform the jutsu on you?" If anything the surrounding ninja's eyes widened even more. Most of them in disbelief. I saw a flurry of emotions pass over Saiko's face before it settled on hope.

"Do it. If you're joking though I'll kill you." I nod and then begin. The surrounding medics backed up as I used more than a third of my chakra to power the jutsu.

"Angel's Breath." The power flowed out of me and into Saiko. Her back arched and the surrounding ninja watched in amazement as bone protruded from her severed arm and leg. It grew until a completely skeletal arm and leg were connected to her body. Then flesh began to grow outwards from the bone until Saiko had 4 fully functioning limbs again.

As soon as the flow of chakra stopped medics rushed Saiko with their hands glowing green. I could see the look of amazement on her face as she tested her newly grown limbs and it made me feel good before I was once more calm. All around me I heard mutters of 'Kai' and people pinching themselves to dispel any possible genjutsu that was cast on them. Struggling through the medics Saiko lifted me off the ground and then she was hugging the life out of me.

"Thank you." I heard her whisper through the commotion around us. It was worth it I thought in that moment. Her next words did fill me with a certain amount of dread. "Lord Danzo and Lord Hokage must be informed immediately. You,' she grabbed one of the medics still analyzing her, 'come with us."

We all flickered out of the room and reappeared kneeling in front of Lord Danzo. He looked up and I could see him glance at me. "Report."

The medic kneeling next to me began talking. "Shiro was admitted to the hospital ward to see Saiko who had been maimed in the line of duty. Upon talking to her briefly he suddenly screamed in agony and fell to the ground clutching his head. Upon his recovery he had somehow doubled his amount of chakra and claimed to be able to restore Saiko's limbs if she would let him."

Lord Danzo's eye flickered to the fully limbed Saiko and I could see the amazement in his eye before it disappeared. "Upon consenting Shiro utilized his unknown jutsu and as you can see she appears to have 4 fully functioning limbs." Lord Danzo leaned back in his chair processing this then he turned to me.

"Shiro, could you replicate this technique."

"I feel that I can Lord Danzo. I must however state that I feel as though I could only perform it twice more today no matter how much chakra I use."

"Do you know why this is?" He inquired?

"I apologize Lord Danzo I do not."

"Everyone put on their masks. We are going to the Hokage's office." We did so and then flickered after him. Lord Danzo didn't seem to feel like he could wait for an appointment. Flaring his chakra in an unknown signal the office window of the Hokage's tower opened and we all jumped inside.

Minato was in the office as well as Lord Hokage. Saiko, the medic and I kneeled as Lord Danzo walked forward. "Seal the office for a possible S rank secret." I felt a trickle of sweat run down my back at that. Immediately, Minato and the 4 ANBU jumped out of the window which then slammed shut and seals flared up on every surface.

"What is it that requires these precautions?" Lord Danzo motioned to the medic and he recited everything that he had told Lord Danzo as well as my response to his questions.

"I see." The seals on the room deactivated and an ANBU appeared before Lord Hokage. "Bring me a volunteer ANBU who has recently been maimed in the line of duty." The ANBU bowed and disappeared. They reappeared carrying a ninja with no legs. "Leave us." The seals on the office went back up.

"How may I serve Lord Hokage?" He bowed as best he could.

"There is an experimental jutsu that could possibly give you back your legs. If you volunteer this jutsu will be cast on you. There will be no dishonor if you do not accept. What is your intention?"

There was longing and hope in his voice when he spoke next. "I accept." Lord Hokage nodded and motioned me to step forward. I had him take off his pants so they wouldn't interfere when his legs were growing and cast the jutsu.

"Angel's Breath." Chakra flowed out of me into the man and once more limbs were grown before our eyes. As soon as the jutsu was finished the man was cautiously testing out his new legs. Finding them satisfactory he stood and as he did he bowed deeply as tears ran down his face.

"Thank you for allowing me to serve once more." Standing tall once more he knelt before the Lord Hokage. "I live to serve Lord Hokage."

"Rise and put on some pants first." That drew a weak laugh from the man and he complied quickly. Lord Hokage turned back to me. "You can do one more today correct?"

"I could Lord Hokage. I would need to regain some chakra first though."

"Do so." He commanded and I sat down in a meditative state. I came out of it when I had around 10k of chakra available. Before me was a horribly burned woman. The left side of her was charred and she was missing an eye. "Heal her."

I proceeded to do so. "Angel's Breath." Her flesh reformed and an eye grew from her socket. I vaguely heard her gasp in astonishment. Everything felt fuzzy and woozy. Steady hands caught me as I started to fall.

"My apologies Lord Hokage I do not feel well." As soon as I said that I fell unconscious. The last thing I say was a green glow hovering in front of my face.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 4 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL**

 **HP: 690/690**

 **Chakra: 22,806/22,806**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 79(86.9)**

 **VIT: 69**

 **END: 75**

 **DEX: 92(101.2)**

 **INT: 100(104)**

 **WIS: 80(83.2)**

 **LCK: 15**

 **Points: 8**

 **Money: 74,540**


	11. Angel's Breath Part 2

**Authors note and a rant: So I've been reading through the Naruto universes history and a portion of the Third War confuses me. Konoha was fighting Iwa, Kiri and it repeatedly said light clashes from Kumo. Now Iwa surrendered shortly after the Kannabi bridge and that left Kiri and Kumo still fighting. Madara kidnapped Rin making it looked like Kiri did it and Kakashi went after her. At this point Obito come along and seeing Kakashi stab Rin with a chidori goes murder happy and kills all the surrounding Kiri ninja. He then goes and hypnotizes the Kiri leadership into a civil war and surrendering to Konoha. From what it said in the wiki Kumo continues to fight skirmishes until 3-4 years later when they ended it during the Hyuga incident. Then it said that Hiruzen backed down because he didn't want a war with Kumo. That is what I believe happened but correct me if I'm wrong.**

 **Now the rant which you can skip if you want.**

 **So my understanding from Danzo's philosophy is that he was portrayed as how ninja used to be during the Clan Wars. Yet in the actual show almost everything bad that happens can be laid at his actions during his command of Root. It portrayed him as some kind of incompetent ass that goes around causing trouble and not cleaning up after himself when he does cause trouble. That's fine, well not really, if the Hokage acted like a real ninja but that is not what happens. Hiruzen is portrayed as a kindly old man that will forgive everyone and just wants to sit around and smoke his pipe. That's where I call bullshit. He lived through all three shinobi wars and rose to the top on a mountain of his enemies corpses. He's not called the God of Shinobi because he ran around shouting "Believe it," and punching people until they liked him or, and this totally bugs me, calmly talking to the man who wiped out your village to death. I believe both Hiruzen were meant to show two sides of the village but Hishimoto took it to the extreme. Okay rant on Hiruzen and Danzo done next one coming right up.**

 **Kakashi and Rin's pointless death when he went to save her.**

 **Your teacher has an ability to instantly teleport to your location. He has given you one of his special kunai to use before, see Obito's death, yet you didn't know what it did and now you do.**

 **Squads of Kiri jonin and ANBU are after you both. Where the F are your squad mates? Did you just leave the village without informing anyone?**

 **Oh, you have a tailed beast inside you. Well let's just call our teacher a known seal master or his teacher also a known seal master since you know he can teleport to us instantly.**

 **Rant over enjoy the story.**

~Interlude~ Hiruzen

It had been a good week I thought. With the destruction of Kannabi Bridge the Iwagakure forces in Kusagakure were trapped without a decent supply line. Minato slaughtering more than a 1000 of them in one battle helped immensely as well. His body grumbled at him for sitting in a chair all day and I shifted slightly to alleviate it. I sighed internally as I felt my advancing age. Soon enough though I could pass on the burden of leadership to another.

I tapped against the folders opened before me. The pictures of Minato Namikaze, Fugaku Uchiha and Orochimaru lay before me. All three were strong shinobi capable of handling the stress of being Hokage. All three had pros and cons though. I looked at the photo of my long time student Orochimaru. Normally choosing between the three would be simply yet recently the vibes I had gotten off of my student had set my hackles on edge.

He seemed to be losing sight of his duties and spending more and more time searching for immortality. I had to snort at that. Why would anyone want to become immortal? Just being this old made my bones ache in the morning. What would it be like being 500 years old? No, I would prefer to stay mortal thank you very much.

I moved the file over to the side and focused on Fugaku's file. He had led his clan and the ninja under his command loyally and successfully. He also had a prodigy of a son as well if the reports were anything to go by. The Uchiha were also founding members of Konoha and the people would love an Uchiha Hokage. The only reservation I had about it was that he would have to balance clan politics and Hokage duties as he was the current head of his clan. I set the file to the side for the moment.

Minato Namikaze. His recent success during the war would make him massively popular with the people. He had no clan obligations to tie him down and while the loss of his student Obito Uchiha was regrettable if it didn't affect how he carried out his duties it was inconsequential. In addition he was a genius that was trained by my old student Jiraiya as well as the husband of the current Jinchuriki Kushina. Just like the first Hokage I mused as I stared at his photo.

Making up my mind I signaled for one of the ANBU waiting within the room. Tora knelt in front of me. "Bring me Minato Namikaze at his earliest convenience." He bowed and left while I tapped on Minato's picture. Yes I think he will do. Tora and Minato both reappeared in my office.

"Lord Hokage how may I serve?" Minato asked.

I leaned back in my chair regarding him as I relit my pipe. "I asked you to come here to answer a question of mine. What do you believe is the main job of the Hokage?"

He looked confused as I asked the question but responded. "I believe that the main job of the Hokage is to bring peace and prosperity to the village even at their own expense." Hmm, a good response. It was similar to my own when Lord Tobirama asked me the same question. Now if only he had a darkness to his light. Shimura really needs to find a successor soon.

"How would you bring about peace?"

"If necessary I would sacrifice myself to attain it." I would prefer if our enemies were the ones making the sacrifice but that's just my opinion nowadays. Before I could question him further I felt Shimura's chakra pulse out an urgent news code. Mouse opened the window as Shimura and 3 of his Root agents jumped through the window to kneel before my desk.

Immediately he asked for the room to be sealed for an S rank secret. I wanted to groan in frustration. I can't ever have purely good news nowadays it always has to have something problematic pop up. Minato and the 4 ANBU members had left through the window as soon as I motioned them to leave and the seals in the office went up as the last one left.

I listened as the medic ran through what had happened to Shiro and how he used an untested jutsu that could seemingly return limbs to people. My thoughts ran away from me for a moment as I imagined all the wounded veterans brought back to full health to fight again. I disliked the limited use of 3 per day but if it isn't a bloodline ability and anyone could learn it that limit wouldn't be such a bit deal. I immediately called for a wounded ANBU to be brought forward. They were the only ones I could trust to keep this quiet until it couldn't be contained anymore. God if this is part of his bloodline I'll have to keep at least two ANBU agents with him at all times.

Tora brought back, Senjo, a wounded ANBU agent that received his injures 5 days ago. Of course I informed him of the experimental nature of the jutsu and of course he accepted. Why wouldn't he? It was a chance to regain everything that he had lost.

I watched amazed as the legs grew from seemingly nothing. The flow of chakra around them was turbulent and it felt vaguely familiar but I couldn't place it at the moment. Once it was done Senjo stood tall once more and we all politely ignored the tears pouring down his face. Ordering Shiro to prepare for one more use of his jutsu I let Tora back into the office.

It was funny seeing the naked shock in his body language as he looked at his reformed squad mate Senjo. He was a fully-fledged ANBU though and he overcame it quickly enough after he had checked to make sure that it wasn't a genjutsu. Ordering him once more to bring an injured ANBU he leapt through the window. Shiro went into some kind of meditative state and started regenerating chakra at an astounding rate. Tora brought back Kona, former Neko, and carefully laid her down as Shiro finished regaining chakra.

Once more Shiro's miracle jutsu worked perfectly and she was restored to full health. It did seem like he was telling the truth about not being able to perform more than 3 per day as he apologized and then immediately fainted even though he had more than enough chakra not to be exhausted.

The Root medic immediately started checking over Shiro and announced he was merely unconscious. Both Root agents were dismissed with instructions to get Saiko and Shiro checked over more thoroughly back at base. Senjo and Kona were also dismiss and told to check back to the ANBU base for immediate checkup. Needless to say they both knew that the news would get out. It's kind of hard to keep the fact that someone was able to regrow limbs. What we could keep secret is his identity.

The office resealed itself once more and I was left with Shimura. He was the one that started off. "This is a major boon for us Hiruzen. If we could replicate this technique…" He trailed off lost in thought.

"We could seal Konoha's dominance for as long as only we had it. I doubt it will be easy though. I recognized what he was using the second time he used his jutsu. It was Natural chakra."

"What!? How is he not dead or turned to stone?"

"I do not know." How that irked me not knowing. I'm not called the Professor for nothing. "I do have a theory that he was not actually mixing Natural chakra within his own body. Unfortunately while I do know about Natural chakra I am not a practitioner of it. We will need to recall Jiraiya and have him bring out his summons for more detailed information. I will send for him as soon as we are done." I pause for a moment in thought. "Maybe Tsunade as well. She would return if we told her we have someone able to regrow limbs with medical chakra."

Shimura's eye narrows at that. "I still do not like how much leeway you give her."

"You also know we can barely touch her with her status as the last member of a founding clan. You also know she still does missions for Konoha from time to time."

"Yes when she needs drinking or gambling money." He mutters and then sighs. "I get it and while I do not like it we are getting off topic. We can brush off old arguments over drinks after we are done with our duties."

I gave him a bemused smile. "We are never done with our duties."

"I know." We both chuckle at that then got back to it.

"As tempting as it is to just let Shiro make use of his jutsu if he is indeed using Natural chakra we must test it to make sure there are no real complications first." I said.

"Agreed. Until we get more people who can use the technique we should also limit it to twice a day. We have no idea what toll it is taking on Shiro's body and if this is a result of his bloodline we need him to survive and father more children. On the other hand we cannot just let his potential go to waste for fear of losing him. I propose we let him continue on C and B rank missions that are closer to Konoha to allow him to be able to provide healing as necessary."

I agreed and we went from there. The meeting took a while and as we finally hashed everything we wanted out I started on a new topic.

"Old friend I want to ask if you've found a suitable heir for your position as the shadow?" He leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh.

"It is frustrating but no I have not. Have you found an heir for the light then?" He inquired softly.

"I'm thinking of Minato Namikaze." I watch him closely as I said that.

His eye closed in thought and then he spoke. "Married to the Jinchuriki, Kushina, mentored by Jiraiya one of the sannin. Has an up and coming prodigy Kakashi as his mentee. Although Kakashi recently lost his eye which was replaced with a sharingan. His wife is the master of young Shiro. He has many allies and friends within the clans yet has no true ties to any making him neutral. Recently he killed 1000 enemy shinobi single handedly." He finishes his recital and ponders.

"I think he would be a good replacement for you." He said it slowly and surely. Good. Once last thing then.

"Are you going to have Shiro fix your eye?" His hand reaches up and absently strokes the bandages.

"No. I'm too old for the field work nowadays. Let those who are younger than I am go first. I've lived without for this long and I can live with it for longer." I nod at that and the room unseals as he leaves. Looking down at my desk I saw to my horror that not an inch of space was left uncovered by mounds of paperwork. It had even spilled over onto the floor on either side of my desk. Even as I watched more sheets seemed to pile up around me.

Dear God its breeding.

~Interlude End~

 **Ding! Chakra and Health are restored to 100%, all status affects are removed.**

The pop up was the first thing I noticed when I woke up. The second was the feel of a hand running through my hair and soft humming. "Hello Saiko."

"Shiro you're finally awake." She didn't stop running her hand through my hair and truthfully I didn't want her to. It felt nice. "You've been asleep for 2 days now. People were starting to get worried. I'm glad you're up though."

"Two days." I mutter. That's quite a while for using Angel's Breath to the limit.

"How do you feel now?" She inquired.

I gave myself a mental once over and found nothing abnormal. Well except for my new and improved memory. Ever since the skill photographic memory was learned I could remember everything since that moment. Everything from before it activated was still normal though. It was an odd dichotomy to compare the old and the new side by side. I realized I had been silent for a while and spoke up.

"I feel 100% ready for anything Saiko." A nod was her response and her hand withdrew from my head. I wanted to sigh at that but held it in.

"Good." She pauses for a moment. "I thanked you before but I want to thank you properly for giving me my life back." She rose from her chair and bowed to me. "Thank you Shiro. If you ever have need of a boon you need but ask and if it is within my power I will grant it." My eyes widened at that and I sat up straight in bed. To deny her boon would be like saying her favor is worthless to me and I will not have that.

"I thank you for offering your boon to me and I accept it with honor. Know though that I would have done the same even without it." I was able to accept it without offending her and tell her that I still valued her more than her boon. I sometime hate how backwards political niceties can be. Oh well, when in Rome and all that.

She straightened from her bow and smiled at me. Then her face turned serious. "You do know that if word of who is healing Konoha ninja or who invented your jutsu gets out you will be listed on every single other hidden village's Bingo book for either capture or kill, right?"

I repress a sigh. I knew something like that would happen if I did this. I'll just have to get strong enough that it won't matter. "I know that Saiko sensei."

"Then you should know that you are not allowed to use that jutsu outside of approved areas where we will work on a disguise for when you heal two patients a day. In addition it has been decided that the best defense for you will be counterintuitively a lack of focus instead of surrounding you with ANBU. You will also need to learn how to dampen your body's natural emissions."

I tilt my head at that. "I thought that skill was only taught to jonin or above?"

"We're making an exception for you. This means you WILL NOT teach anyone else and you WILL remember that this doesn't mean people can't find you." I nod at that. I can vaguely sense that there is something there now when I actively use my chakra sense nowadays and I remembered Fumi tracking those two genin down like a dog.

Saiko was silent for a moment as though testing my sincerity. "Good. Now the technique is both hard and easy. It is hard because it forces you to create a thin layer of chakra that is barely over your skin at all times when it is active. It is easy because it costs almost nothing in terms of chakra expenditure. It is for those two reasons it is considered a jonin level chakra control exercise as well. Now watch closely."

Her right arm was suddenly engulfed in blue chakra. A shield seemed to form over it and tamed its wide fluctuations. Then it started to retract into her arm until I could not sense any chakra flowing from her body.

"What you just saw was a larger scale of what is going to happen when you create the thin layer of chakra. Now you try. If you can't get it I have a scroll with the technique which you can 'eat' and no I won't just let you use it. I don't want you to be reliant on your bloodline to learn new things."

That makes sense I suppose. I began to flare my chakra outside of my arm in preparation for the technique.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Chakra Emissions Dampening** ( **Active 10(8.125)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Decreases the amount of chakra that your body naturally emits by 10%.**

"Good you've partially got it. Now you just need to work on it until you don't emit any chakra that you don't want to. Of course you'll need to drop the technique if you want to use a jutsu." She motions me to get dressed and follow her. I quickly get dressed and set my mask firmly in place before she leads me out of the room and through the base.

"We're going to one of the ANBU bases within Konoha where we will meet some people who want to study your jutsu." We stop at the exit to the base and she turns to me. "Henge into an older female and take off your mask." I do so and she studies me critically.

"Make the hips a little wider and the breasts bigger. Your face is good for now. Try walking." I do so and she makes a tsk sound. "You walk like a male. Can't be helped though you're not trained for infiltration. We'll work on it later. The people we're meeting can keep a secret and all your patients will be unconscious for added security. Put your mask back on and follow me."

She led me to an older laundry mat and after giving some type of signal to the older lady in back we walked through the back door that said employees only. There were more machines in back but Saiko ignored them and tapped three times on a specific tile. The floor opened up and a set of stairs leading down into the ground. Saiko confidently led the way and as we went down the stairs the floor closed behind us. Intermittently Saiko would flair her chakra in a code as we walked through the tunnels and finally arrived at a nondescript door.

Opening it up I saw 3 people of which I only recognized 1 of them by sight and the other two by reputation. Jiraiya was here and he was hitting on an older blond haired woman with the biggest pair of breasts I've even seen. Seriously she must have serious back pains carrying those things around. She was wearing a green jacket with the kanji for gamble written on the back and grey clothes underneath. I also noted a violet diamond that seemed to be embedded into her forehead.

Standing next to the two and looking amused was the whitest looking man I've ever seen with golden eyes that seem snake like almost. He was wearing grey clothes and a thick purple rope around his waist with long black hair running down his back.

"Lord Orochimaru, Lord Jiraiya, Lady Senju I have brought the creator of the jutsu you were informed about here for you to witness it in action."

"Kuhuhu, a child is the creator of this astounding jutsu?" Wow I'm getting major creep vibes from him.

"Brat I knew you were a genius but this is a whole different level." He glares at me. "I still have to pay you back for setting those kunoichi on me." I got instantly pegged by Jiraiya.

"This better be everything that I was told or I'm going to smash you brat and I'm sure you deserved it you pervert." She seems kind of drunk right now which is kind of sad because it's early afternoon right now. Still are my disguise and acting skills so bad that they could see through them instantly or are they just that good?

"I'm not a pervert I'm a super pervert." He cries out and then ducks a punch from Lady Senju. "Careful there princess I need to be in tip top shape for this." Her only response is a glare and he chuckles nervously.

"Right, let's get this show on the road then." Jiraiya made some hand seals and with a cry of "Summoning Jutsu," a cloud of smoke surrounded him. When it cleared there were two frogs sitting on his shoulders.

"What did you call us for Jiraiya?" The male one with eyebrows and a beard asks. Which is truly strange looking if you ask me. "Something to fight?" The female toad with purple hair and purple lipstick asks.

"Ma, Pa I brought you here to look at a jutsu that we think is using Natural chakra and we wanted the advice from the experts."

"Oh, that could be dangerous then." Pa said.

"Let's see it then." Ma demanded.

Saiko gestured to a door on the far side of the room. "Right this way please." We all went through the door and found an unconscious male who was missing his right leg on a bed. Next to him on another bed was an unconscious female who seemed to be missing both eyes and her left arm. "If you would." Saiko motioned me forward.

Alright I can do this. 240 hand signs were formed and with a mutter of "Angel's Breath," the jutsu hit the male. I couldn't see what their expressions were because I was giving my full attention to the jutsu and by the time I had finished their expressions had settled. Although Orochimaru was giving me a hungry look that was creepy as hell.

"Amazing," Pa said. "He's using his chakra as a net and gathering Natural chakra before he directs it into the patient."

Ma took over. "From there the Natural chakra stimulates the body and heals it. Only the recipient is in any danger of turning to stone if his control slips."

"Then once the healing is done the Natural chakra is withdrawn from the body and let go. It almost seems cleaner somehow." Pa mused. He looked at me and seemed to be studying something. "Please use the jutsu again." Pa hopped off Jiraiya's shoulder and onto my head which broke my henge.

I really don't know why I even bothered to try to disguise myself. Everyone seems to see right through it and even the talking toads know I'm a guy. Letting out a mental sigh I move over to the sleeping female and perform Angel's breath again.

"I see. His chakra is acting as a strainer and removing any impurities from the Natural chakra before it is entered into the patient's body. Other people could learn this but it would take months or even years to do it properly. I have no idea how he is doing this so instinctually." Pa said from atop my head.

"His body is somehow naturally in tune with Natural chakra even though he has never used it before 2 days ago. You ninjas still completely amaze me sometimes." Pa jumped from my head back onto Jiraiya's shoulder.

"Is there a limit to how much you can use this technique?" Ma inquired from Jiraiya's shoulder her voice thoughtful. I looked over at Saiko first and she nodded so I answered.

"I can only perform this jutsu 3 times a day before I fall unconscious. Afterwards I slept for 2 days apparently."

Both toads nodded at that. I could see Lady Senju behind Jiraiya looking both angry and sad at the newly healed ninja. I have no idea why she would have those two emotions together unless she lost someone she loved that could have been saved by my jutsu.

"So is it safe for others to learn then?" Jiraiya inquired.

Ma gave a shrug. "I think so. As long as nobody tries to fuse the Natural chakra into their bodies while they are casting the jutsu they should be fine. Like it was said before though the real one in danger is the recipient. They could turn to stone if you misstep at any point in time."

"What about the people who are healed using the jutsu? Would they be affected by Natural chakra flowing through them?" Lady Senju spoke up.

"No. There shouldn't be any complications from the Natural chakra flowing through them. I suppose they could not fully lose control of the jutsu but allow some of the Natural chakra to slip free of their control. That would probably make some portion of their targets body turn to stone." Pa said with a shrug.

"Call us again if you need us. Right now we have to go back and inform everyone else of this jutsu." Ma and Pa disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I saw Lady Senju running her glowing green hands above the newly regrown leg. With a grunt she moved onto the lady and did the same thing with her eyes and arm. "I can't tell if there is anything wrong with the newly grown tissue and I'm willing to trust Ma and Pa's expertise in the manipulation and dangers of Natural chakra. What do you think Orochimaru?"

"Kuhuhu, I believe it is an excellent jutsu. I'm sure it will be placed in the Scroll of Seals because of its inherent danger to the target. I would be curious if I would be allowed to study it more in depth later?"

Saiko's hand lands on my shoulder and she gently leads me out of the room. I reapply my frankly worthless henge and we left the base. Behind me I could hear the three of them arguing about something as we left. After we left the base Saiko led me to the Hokage's tower and into his office.

We knelt in front of his desk and Saiko gave a detailed report on everything that had happened during the examination. Once she finished talking Lord Hokage gave me a considering look and then dismissed her leaving me 'alone' with the Hokage.

"First off you can drop the henge now." I did so. Frankly I was surprised I was even allowed to enter the office with it on. "Shiro your actions have given us something that is nearly invaluable. Something that the villages would happily go to war over." Fuck.

"We will try to protect your identity as much as possible but in the mean time you will have to grow strong enough to protect yourself for when the information does get out. For now I want you to write everything that you know about your jutsu and write it down here." He tossed me a scroll and a brush.

I unrolled the scroll and started writing everything I knew about it down. It took a while and once it was done I handed it back to the Lord Hokage. He gave it a once over and then took out a huge scroll out of nowhere. Laying them side by side he gave me a wink and then performed some type of technique that caused the words I had written to float above the large scroll and then sink into it. 'Stupid ninja bullshit' I thought.

"Now I would recommend that you go see your sensei Kushina. I've been told that she was worried sick after you disappeared for 2 days. Dismissed." I felt a bead of sweat run down my back at his words. An angry Kushina is a scary Kushina. I bowed and took my leave.

Ducking into an alleyway some ways away from the Hokage's tower I took off my mask and threw it into my inventory. I also reapplied my Konoha headband to my left arm. Before I made my way to Kushina's house I stopped by Ichiraku's for 3 bowls of miso ramen to go. Hopefully my appeasement sacrifice will save me from her rage.

I got close enough to the house that I could sense Kushina's chakra inside. Stealthfully I took out a bowl of miso ramen and after knocking on the door knelt holding the bowl out as though it was a tribute. Which it was in this case.

"Shiro, where have you-" Kushina slammed open the door and I could see her hair floating in 9 distinct tails behind her. "Is that Ichiraku's ramen? No, I'm still mad-" another bowl appeared in my hands next to the first.

Her hair was calming down now. "You can't just show up here and tempt me like that. I'm supposed to be mad at you." Another bowl appeared carefully balanced on the other two. There was a moment of silence and then Kushina whined. "Fine be that way." The bowls vanished from my hands as she took them and placed them on the kitchen table.

The next thing I knew I was off the ground and being pulled into a hug. "I was so worried about you. All they would tell me is that you were in the hospital but they didn't let me see you and they didn't tell me why. What did you do?"

I made to tell her I couldn't tell her but she just kept talking. "Never mind if they didn't tell me it was probably important and you couldn't say anything about it. Just don't worry me like that again." I could only nod against her chest.

"Now come in. Mito will be happy to see her big brother." And just like that I avoided the wrath of Kushina and everything continued on like nothing ever happened. At the end of the day I still thought creating the jutsu was worth it even though the Hokage himself had warned me to become strong quickly. I just thought of it as added incentive.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 4 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL**

 **HP: 690/690**

 **Chakra: 22,806/22,806**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 79(86.9)**

 **VIT: 69**

 **END: 75**

 **DEX: 92(101.2)**

 **INT: 100(104)**

 **WIS: 80(83.2)**

 **LCK: 15**

 **Points: 8**

 **Money: 74,540**

 **Chakra Emissions Dampening** ( **Active 10(8.125)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Decreases the amount of chakra that your body naturally emits by 10%.**

 **Angel's Breath ( S+ Rank Active(10,000(8,125))) LVL 1 – 0.2%**

 **Restores the target to optimal health. Cures wounds and regrows limbs. Cannot be used more than 3 times per day. Cannot be used on self.**

 **Decreases casting time by 1%**


	12. Rasengan

It was nice just being able to relax in Kushina's living room with Mito held in my arms but the Hokage was right about growing stronger quickly. Something about this had to change. I cleared my throat and spoke up. "Sensei do you think it would be a good idea to start on my fuinjutsu training?"

Kushina slowed her dishwashing and turned to face me. "What makes you want to start learning fuinjutsu now? It's a very useful art admittedly, but it takes a long time to fully master."

I considered that for a moment. "I believe it would be best to start early then, wouldn't you say? I was also told by the Hokage that I had to grow stronger."

She stopped washing completely and gave me a searching look. "Does this have anything to do with the fact that you showed up with twice your original amount of chakra or the fact that your sensei taught you chakra dampening?" She pauses. "No, it's probably something you did like that pocket space of yours."

She acts so goofy all the time it's hard to remember that she wouldn't have made it to her age if she was dumb. Now how to dance around this without saying anything that could get me executed. A lightbulb goes off.

"I can't and won't comment on that I'm just passing along what the Hokage told me to do." As I say this I look at her stomach the entire time.

I see her hand twitch towards it and then fall back to her side. "Ah, one of those kinds of secrets." She takes a moment to steady herself. "Try not to be so blatant about it though. It's fine because my house is sealed up tight but you never know in this world." Message received sensei.

She gave a big sigh and then placed the dish back in the sink. "I'll go get my beginners scroll that my mentor gave me. Once you see it you'll probably regret asking to learn fuinjutsu." She left the kitchen and I could hear her go upstairs and start rummaging around. Mito started to gurgle at me and I let her play with my fingers. She seemed happy enough to do so.

Kushina came back and my eyes widened at it. The thing was as tall as I was and thicker than my waist. She just laughed at my expression and I let my face fall blank. Stupid trolling sensei.

"I had that same expression when I first saw this thing." She pats it fondly. "This is the complete heritage of my clan. The complete 10,000 variations of brush strokes and how they interact together." A sad look over comes her face for a moment before it is banished.

I don't want to prod at a wound but, "You're part of a clan sensei?"

She sighs heavily and motions for me to give her Mito. I trade the baby for the scroll and Kushina sits down on the couch across from me. "They were a powerful clan that remained close allies of Konoha since its founding. Shortly after I moved to Konoha for _that_ the clan was destroyed by a coalition of Kiri, Iwa and Kumo forces. There may be other clan members out there but we've been scattered to the winds." How powerful must they have been if three villages gathered together to destroy them?

"I'm sorry to hear that sensei." She gave me a sad smile and then started rocking Mito.

"It's fine. It happened long ago and now I have my own family right here. This could even be the start of the resurgence of the Uzumaki clan right here." Tickling Mito's foot sent her into a fit of giggles. "I can't change the past but the future is still open."

"That's a great mentality to have." I received a thumbs up from her.

"I know, only the best for me because I'm the best." I couldn't help the snort that came out.

"Oi, are you mocking your sensei. Just for that I'm making you memorize all 10,000 variants before you start on any seals."

"You were going to have me memorize them anyways." I pointed out the obvious to her.

"Yeah so. Now get to reading." She turned deadly serious. "Before you do you must promise me to never try to create any seals without myself, Minato or,' she grimaces, 'Jiraiya around. Seals can be completely unpredictable sometimes if you don't have the exact variation completely right it can cause unfortunate accidents."

Her eyes go blank as though remembering something horrible. "I remember back before I left for Konoha one of the older apprentices was playing around with a seal. They must have done a miss stroke and instead of a sealing array to store things he opened some kind of hell dimension. There were so many teeth and far too many eyes." She shivered and pulled Mito closer. "The abomination pulled him through before anyone could do anything and it took 3 master sealers to close the rift."

Her eyes focused back on me. "So no sealing unless I'm there." I nodded frantically and swore never to do it. I unfurled the scroll and started reading. My eyes were scanning the words and brush strokes but my mind was elsewhere.

I had never really given much thought to a simple sealing scroll because I had something that I thought was better. Now that I actually thought about it sealing scrolls and my inventory worked on the same principles of a pocket dimension. If that were true then it was no wonder the Uzumaki clan were destroyed. If messing with dimensions was the easy part of fuinjutsu then I could see how others would fear them. Brushing off my thoughts I gave my full attention to the scroll. Luckily I had a photographic memory right before I started learning fuinjutsu. It's almost like it was planned… Nah.

It had been several hours after I started reading through the scroll when I heard the front door opening. I looked up briefly from my reading to see Minato and Kakashi walk through the door. I gave them a nod in greeting and Minato gave me a wide smile when he saw the scroll.

"I remember that scroll. How's memorizing the entire thing going?" I don't really get stiff but it felt nice to stretch.

"It's going pretty well. Most of the brush strokes are very similar but they change the thickness or angle of the stroke. You've read this before?" He sits down across from me as Kakashi starts puttering around in the kitchen.

"Oh definitely. Jiraiya was always interested in fuinjutsu and his enthusiasm for it infected me. I didn't have this to start out though so it was mostly copying known seals from Jiraiya and I went from there." He gets a far off look.

"It wasn't until after I saved Kushina from getting kidnapped by Kumo that my fuinjutsu really took off." He gets a wide smile. "That's when we really got together although she sometimes insists that she didn't need the help. I only found her because I followed her beautiful red hair that she left behind."

I heard a snort behind me. "I really didn't need your help and yes it is beautiful isn't it." Kushina walked around the couch and plopped down into his lap. "Reminiscing about being a dashing hero?"

"You know it." He gave her a kiss. "Where's Mito?"

"She went to sleep and I put her in her crib upstairs." He hummed at that and turned to me.

"While I do hate to ruin the mood I do want to talk to you about Obito's funeral." I heard a clatter from behind me and then Kakashi's muttered 'Sorry,' before I heard him leave the room.

Both Minato and Kushina were giving him sad looks as he left. "Kakashi is taking his death pretty hard right now and the Uchiha making all sorts of noise about his implanted sharingan isn't helping at all."

"Really?" Kushina inquired. "Do you want me to talk to Mikoto about it?"

"If you could that would be great. It was Obito's final gift to him and I think losing it would break him." It was quiet for a few moments before he turned back to me.

"Anyways Obito's funeral is in a few days and while you didn't really know him I would appreciate it if you would come."

"Of course I will. When and where will the funeral take place?"

"We don't have a body to bury so the ceremony will take place at the memorial stone as his name is carved into it and it is two days from now at 10." I nod and start to go back to my reading before I pause.

"Would it be possible to stay at your house tonight so I can continue reading through this scroll?" Kushina and Minato look at each other and shrug.

"Sure if you can convince your sensei to let you stay we have no problem with it. Are you really memorizing it or are you just reading it through right now?" Kushina inquired.

"Memorizing."

"Really?" She sounds doubtful. Fool, you doubt my power? "What stroke are you on?"

Without looking down I reply. "Stroke #1824."

"Recite stroke #356 and its uses." I take a second to recall it and then recite it line for line as well as its common uses. Both of them are looking at me funnily now. Kushina continues on her impromptu exam and time after time I recite everything perfectly. Finally she admits defeat and admits that I might actually be memorizing it.

"Do you have perfect memory recall?" Sensing an opportunity to troll them I adopt my most innocent façade.

"Yes, doesn't everyone?" Both of their eyes are dull as though recalling the difficulty in memorizing the entire scroll.

"No, no they do not." Minato's voice is so deadpan. "Honey your apprentice just keeps surprising us."

She briefly preens and then slumps. "I know, I told him he'd drive me to drink if he kept it up. My stance on that still stands especially after his latest stunt that I can't know anything about." He briefly glances at me curiously before shrugging as though it doesn't concern him.

I was going to continue to troll them a bit more but I felt Saiko's chakra flare outside the house. "Excuse me but my sensei is here and I'm going to go try to convince her to let me stay the night." I slipped out of the house and ran over to Saiko.

"Sensei, can I stay here for the night?" I put on my puppy eyes for extra effect.

She snorted at that. "Those things don't work on me brat. Why do you want to stay the night?"

I shrugged and let the puppy eyes fade. "Kushina started letting me learn fuinjutsu. Right now I'm memorizing all 10,000 variants of brush strokes that make up the basics of fuinjutsu from the Uzumaki clan scroll."

"The clan scroll? Did you thank her for the honor of that?" I was supposed to do that? I thought back and yes my lessons on clan etiquette were very specific on that.

"I didn't know it was a clan until she explained what happened to them and by then I was too engrossed in memorizing the scroll to pay her the proper respect for granting me the opportunity." She lightly cuffed me on the back of the head.

"That's not an excuse and you're lucky that she didn't take offense to it. Go back in there and apologize. Then since she's letting you in on clan secrets you can definitely stay the night." I bowed and ran back inside.

Kushina and Minato were conversing quietly on the couch but they stopped when I stood before then and formally bowed. "It was brought to my attention that I may have offended you when I did not pay the proper respect due to you revealing clan secrets to an outsider. I deeply apologize for my slight against you and your clan."

"Shiro you don't have to do this. My clan is gone and it was my choice to give you access to the scroll."

I spoke up while still in my bow. "You have a child who could continue the legacy of your clan and therefore they are clan secrets so yes I do have to do this."

She sighed deeply. "Shiro I meant it when I said you were a big brother to Mito. If I wasn't sure you would start your own clan one day I would allow you to take my last name and be my son in all but blood." Ah, I didn't know that. A warm feeling bubbled up inside me before it was replaced by calm. I straightened from my bow.

"Thank you." She frowned at me and stood up from the couch to make her way over to me. Wrapping me in a hug she spoke again.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry." I'm crying? Reaching up and feeling my cheeks I found that yes I was.

"I don't know where it came from." She continued her hug for a while before she released me.

"Idiot, you were happy." Before she could continue Mito's cries came from upstairs. Letting out a sigh of a new mother she started for the stairs. Before she left she did leave me with one last piece of information. "Don't ever feel like you're alone Shiro. You have people who care for you."

I looked over to Minato and he just gave me a smile. Wiping away any leftover wetness on my cheeks I sat back down on the couch. I sat there and just kind of absorbed everything that had just happened. My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a hand ruffle my hair. Looking up I saw Minato leaving the room and continuing up the stairs. How long was I sitting here? I couldn't hear anything coming from upstairs so Mito must have gone back to bed.

Looking back at the clan scroll I picked it up and began to read once more. The hours flew by as the amount remaining continued to diminish under my voracious reading. By the time I had finished reading the final passage I could hear people stirring upstairs. Letting everything I had just read settle I looked over the pop up that had appeared after I finished reading.

 **Ding!**

 **Gained +2 INT**

 **Learned Fuinjutsu Foundations (Passive) LVL 20 – 0%**

 **Some call fuinjutsu writing in the language of the Gods. Now you begin your journey on the path of a fuinjutsu master.**

 **Increased accuracy when writing seals 20%**

 **Increased speed when writing seals 30%**

My eyes widened at seeing that I had gained 19 levels in a skill overnight as well as 2 points in INT. Are all clan scrolls this useful? I suppose it's the knowledge of a multitude of generations distilled down into one scroll but still. This is kind of insane. Carefully I rolled the scroll back up making sure not to damage it at all.

I was just finishing rolling it up when Kushina walked into the kitchen with Mito. "Did you finish it?" I look over and nod. "I'll give you a test on your knowledge of it later just to be sure." She gave me a smile as she walked over and gave me a hug. "Sorry about not coming back down last night. Mito kept on getting fussy if I left her and I ended up sleeping next to her."

"That's fine sensei. It was enough just knowing you wanted to adopt me into your clan." She gave me another squeeze before moving over to the kitchen to start cooking. As the morning progressed Minato and Kakashi stopped in briefly for breakfast before they left for their team meeting leaving me alone with Kushina and Mito.

I helped clean up from breakfast and then Kushina sat me down on the couch. "Alright let's go over everything you read and make sure you have it down before we start." What followed was a 4 hour long test that exhausted me mentally recalling all of the various variants of brush strokes and their uses. At the end of it Kushina did pronounce me proficient enough to actually start try to write seals.

"Now the ink that we use to make seals is special. It is 80% ink and 20% blood of the user. It's another thing that makes learning seals take so long. Don't want the student to bleed to death now do we." She gave me a wink.

"Before we begin let me remind you that you will not push any chakra into a seal until I say it is okay. Let's start with something relatively harmless." She whipped out a piece of paper and with quick strokes a seal was sitting on the table between us.

"This,' she tapped the seal, 'will produce a bright light when chakra is pumped into it. It is the precursor to more explosive seals that we will get to later and is relatively easy to produce using only 16 brush strokes. Now tell me the strokes used and then try reproducing it." I named the strokes and with her approval I got right to it.

It was surprisingly difficult to reproduce. I knew each stroke down to the last detail yet I kept on getting caught up in the placement and size of my brush strokes. Seal after seal was tossed aside and burned so no one would activate it accidently. Some were a success and Kushina set those to the side. By the time I ran out of ink there was a small stack of seals sitting on the table and a large pile of ash off to the side.

"That's pretty good for a complete beginner Shiro. 1 in 5 was a lot better than what I did for my first seal." Kushina tried to cheer me up after seeing how down I was. It was strange how I both hated fuinjutsu and loved it. I hated it because I failed so much and it was frustrating seeing Kushina burn the rejects. At the same time I loved it because ever since I've gained this power everything seemed so easy to learn. There was no challenge to learn only the grind that followed after I performed it for the first time. It was too bad I'd promised not to perform fuinjutsu without an instructor nearby.

I understood the danger of it but my power let me know every time I succeeded or failed. Pausing for a moment I considered the fact that the pop ups didn't tell me if I succeeded in creating the seal I wanted or just a seal that worked. Thinking back I saw that yes it did tell me several times that I had succeeded when Kushina said I had failed. Deciding to err on the side of caution I took her word for it.

"What now sensei?"

"Now Minato should be back soon and he'll go teach you something." I looked at her quizzically. "I asked him to after he came upstairs last night. He said he needed to get some supplies first." Speaking of supplies.

"Do you need me to pay for any of this? It can't be inexpensive to have me go through so many sheets of paper and ink." She tried to wave it off.

"Don't worry about it Shiro. I'm getting quite a nice salary being your mentor and Minato was talking about getting a windfall soon. We don't need it." Shrugging it off I looked over as the door opened and Minato came in.

"Hey guys I'm back. Shiro did Kushina tell you about me training you?" I nod and he motions me to follow him. We both say our goodbyes to Kushina and flicker through the village to training ground 10. Once we arrive Minato turns to me.

"Alright can you keep a secret?" I raise my eyebrow at that and nod.

"Good. It doesn't really matter if it gets out but as there's going to be an announcement at the end of the week. I was recently called to the Hokage's office where he told me I was going to be the Fourth Hokage." My sensei's husband is going to be the Hokage? Holy crap. That's amazing.

"Congratulations." I didn't know what else to say besides that. What else do you say to the man about to be in control of an army of trained killers that obey him completely?

"That being said I was let in on some of the secrets of the office so I know what happened to knock you out." Ah, so that was where he was going with this. "After hearing that I completely agree with Lord Hokage and your need to become strong as quickly as possible. That is why I'm going to teach you this technique if you promise me to never use it on any loyal Konoha ninja."

"I swear I will never use the technique you are willing to teach me on any loyal Konoha ninja." He looked at me for a bit as though testing my sincerity. He would find that I was being 100% truthful. I had no desire to become a traitor to the village and being hunted down like those genin. Which come to think of it was probably a warning to me to stay loyal. It was brutal yet effective which was why they probably did it.

"Good. Now watch my hand." I focused on his hand as I felt his chakra start to whirl in every which way as it formed a ball in his hand. The glowing blue ball felt like a maelstrom of chakra and I watched as he slammed his hand into the ground creating a large crater with a whirling pattern within.

"That was an A rank technique called the Rasengan. It doesn't require any hand signs at all because it a pure shape manipulation technique. I broke it down into three steps." He tossed me a balloon filled with water. "The first part is bursting this balloon using your chakra like so." He took out a balloon and I felt his chakra swirling in multiple directions making the balloon burst apart. "Now you try. Don't be discouraged if you don't get it on the first try."

We'll see about that. I focused on the balloon in my hand and started swirling my chakra in one direction. It bulged but didn't burst. Next I added another direction and another until the balloon burst apart. "I did it." Looking up I saw him standing there slack jawed at my display. He noticed me looking at him and composed himself.

"Oh, uh, can you do it again please." He tossed me another balloon and with an application of chakra it burst once more. "Right, wait right while I go get the stuff for the next step." He flickered out of the clearing leaving me standing there. Ha, that'll teach him to underestimate me. Minato reappeared and he tossed me a rubber balloon. "The next step is to burst the rubber ball like so." I could feel him rotate his chakra in multiple directions and then it became denser. It proved too much for the ball and it exploded.

Alright I can do that. I focused on the ball and sent my chakra within. Doing the same thing that I did with the balloon caused the ball to bulge and stretch. Frowning in concentration I pumped more and more chakra into it suddenly causing the ball to burst. Cool I did it. I saw that Minato's eye seemed to have developed a twitch.

"Try it again." He tossed me another ball and I sent my chakra into it again bursting it. The twitch became more pronounced. "The final step goes like this." He blew up a balloon and holding it in his hand formed a full rasengan within it. The balloon didn't so much as twitch as the technique swirled within it. "The final step is the hardest and makes you contain the technique within a balloon without it bursting or moving. Try it now." He handed me over the balloon.

It burst apart almost immediately. Minato's twitch stopped. "See the last part is control and it's the hardest to master. Why don't you try once more?" He handed me over another balloon and I concentrated even more before I started.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Rasengan (A Rank Active(1000(812.5))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **The highest form of shape transformation it requires no hand signs and is extremely quick to form if you master it. The creator considers the technique incomplete without an elemental component to it.**

 **Decreases forming time by 5%**

Cool my first A rank technique and not complete? It seems powerful enough already. Would it be an S rank technique if it had an elemental component? Oh, Minato twitch had come back and seemed to be increasing.

"That's great Shiro. Why don't you test it out? While I go cry on my wife's shoulder." The last part was a whisper and I barely heard it before he flickered out of the clearing leaving me alone with my new technique. I felt bad for about half a second before I was testing out my shiny new technique. Got to level it up after all. Happily humming I slammed the newly formed rasengan into the ground creating a huge swirly crater.

Hours later Saiko found me surrounded by craters as I meditated to restore my chakra. "Brat what happened here? I thought you were learning about fuinjutsu?"

"Oh, hey Saiko. Yeah Kushina gave me this huge scroll with 10,000 variations of brush strokes and she made me memorize all of them. I did that overnight and then we spent the day practicing my actual penmanship until we ran out of paper. Then Minato came and taught me this A rank jutsu." The rasengan burst into life in my hand and I slammed it down into the ground. "He ran off after I completed it though."

By then end of my speech she was rubbing her forehead. "You didn't have a perfect memory before. When did you get it?"

"When I screamed in pain next to your bed." I replied matter of factly. Her rubbing seemed to get stronger.

"Is there anything else that changed about your body?" I thought for a moment.

"The world doesn't blur when I used body flicker anymore."

"Your eyes can perceive the world when you're going that fast?" Her voice was extremely deadpan.

"Yep, everything is as clear as though I'm standing still." It's kind of fun seeing Saiko and other people react to my abilities like they're impossible. The thought hit me like a bolt of lightning. I'm becoming like other high level ninja and showing off to cause a reaction from others. The thought of becoming as… quirky as some of the other high level ninjas scared me for a moment before I discarded it as unimportant.

"Just, just go back to base. I'll be along as soon as I go to Kushina's house and have a nice long drink with them." She flickered out of the clearing and I was left alone to clean up the field. Using the very basic earth technique I learned from Kushina to bury bodies I filled in the numerous craters until the ground wasn't torn apart anymore. After that I left and made why way back to base to await Saiko.

She showed up 3 hours later with the smell of alcohol on her breath. "Alright brat. Let's get this show on the road. I'm going to teach you how to do the wind leaf exercise. It's not something I'm great at but it'll do. Now watch." She took out a leaf and I watched as it was cut in half. "Here's enough leafs for the night. Have fun. I'm going back to drinking." She dumped a small hill of leaves on the ground and then flickered out.

Weird. I picked up the first leaf.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Wind Manipulation (Passive) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and wind chakra as well as the manipulation of wind.**

 **Decreases cost of all wind techniques by 0.25%**

 **Increases control of wind by 1%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.1%**

 ***Wind Leaf exercise (Active 30(25.5)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to wind chakra and back again by 5%.**

My night was sent cutting leaves with wind chakra and in the morning I knew I would attend my first funeral on this world. Somehow I didn't think it would be the last.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 4 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL**

 **HP: 690/690**

 **Chakra: 22,995/22,995**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 79(86.9)**

 **VIT: 69**

 **END: 75**

 **DEX: 92(101.2)**

 **INT: 102(106)**

 **WIS: 80(83.2)**

 **LCK: 15**

 **Points: 8**

 **Money: 74,540**

 **Skills gained or changed.**

 **Wind Manipulation (Passive) LVL 3 – 52%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and wind chakra as well as the manipulation of wind.**

 **Decreases cost of all wind techniques by .75%**

 **Increases control of wind by 3%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.3%**

 ***Wind Leaf exercise (Active 30(24.1)/min) LVL 6 – 10%**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to wind chakra and back again by 30%.**

 **Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 78 – 3%: Chakra is what you and others will live and die by. By controlling it you stand above others.**

 **Decreases the cost of active techniques by 19.5%**

 **Increases Chakra control by 78%**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 39%**

 **Rasengan (A Rank Active(1000(805))) LVL 2 – 98%**

 **The highest form of shape transformation it requires no hand signs and is extremely quick to form if you master it. The creator considers the technique incomplete without an elemental component to it.**

 **Decreases forming time by 10%**

 **Chakra Emissions Dampening** ( **Active 10(8.05)/min) LVL 3 – 13%**

 **Decreases the amount of chakra that your body naturally emits by 30%.**

 **Fuinjutsu Foundations (Passive) LVL 22 – 5%**

 **Some call fuinjutsu writing in the language of the Gods. Now you begin your journey on the path of a fuinjutsu master.**

 **Increased accuracy when writing seals 22%**

 **Increased speed when writing seals 30%**


	13. Saiko Interlude

~Interlude~ Saiko

Waking up underground is always a little disconcerting. If you don't want light to shine in your eyes during when you sleep you have to completely turn off the lights. Since you obviously can't have windows in a secret underground base you wake up to complete darkness all around you. Closing my eyes I make my way out of bed and flip the switch for the lights making me flinch from the sudden light even with my eyes closed. Cracking my eyes open and letting them get used to the light I finished my morning, well evening nowadays, routine then got dressed and ready for the day.

I have about two hours before I have to meet up with Shiro for his training and I spent most of it training as well as maintaining my current fitness levels. Finishing my wake up workout I hit the showers and I can't help but run my fingers along my restored arm. The memories of the past few days come flooding back.

As soon as I had felt an earth jutsu absolutely crush my leg I had thought my life was over but a lucky shot with a lightning spear had taken my opponent in his chest. An enemy kunoichi had seen my weakened state and had tried to finish me off with a tanto swing to the neck.

She was still young and seeing someone willingly sacrifice their arm had made her hesitate long enough for me to plant a kunai into her brain. I remember being barely coherent enough to stem the bleeding with a medical jutsu before I fainted and someone must have picked me up to bring me back to Konoha.

Waking up again in a hospital bed and realizing that I was maimed nearly broke me. I had dedicated my life to serving Konoha and now I was nothing but a liability that would be quietly shuffled off to the side. I couldn't even dedicate my life to having children and raising the next generation of ninja. An unlucky hit from an enemy water jutsu during my early career had closed that option to me forever. I suppose I could adopt as there was always a constant flow of orphans entering the orphanage I mused.

I was broken from my musing by a familiar voice and a quick glance revealed Shiro running towards me. No, I don't want him to be here. I don't want him to see me so weak. I tried to play it off. Tried to make it seem like it was no big deal but I think some of the bitterness seeped into my voice. I could see the moment when fury broke through his normally calm and collected face and I felt happy that he would feel anger for my behalf.

He seemed to stare blankly at nothing for a bit. He does that sometimes and the best we can come up for it is that his body is adapting in some way when he blanks on us. Him suddenly screaming in agony and clutching his head is new though. As is him doubling his total chakra pool in an instant. I frantically waved off the Root agents that were poised to strike him down and tried calling out to him. Nothing seemed to get through and he continued to scream in agony. Several of the medics cautiously move in to try to examine him but as soon as they started their techniques he stood back up as though nothing had happened.

His next words sent my mind in a whirl. Was he being serious? Could he actually do it? Could I be useful again? All these questions and more flitted through my head before I made my choice. I would rather die than be useless. I had to wave off everyone again when he started to pour a massive amount of chakra into whatever technique he was using. The jutsu hit me and I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. I felt at peace. It felt like floating in the water on a warm sunny day with not a cloud in the sky and not a worry in the world.

All too soon the feeling ended and I could feel my missing arm and leg again. I moved them cautiously and felt them respond as though they had never been removed in the first place. A swarm of medics flocked to me, all of them with their body language screaming excitement. Shiro was left alone outside of the surrounding medics and I couldn't let that stand. He had made me useful again.

I pushed my way through the medics and pulled him into a hug. He didn't respond and just kind of hung there limply like he had never received a hug before. 'He hadn't' a portion of my mind supplied. He probably doesn't even know what you're doing. The thought made me incredibly sad and I tried to put every ounce of gratitude I had when I thanked him for returning my limbs. Returned my limbs! The thought bullied its way past all my other thoughts. This needs to be reported immediately. I grabbed the medic that was still trying to diagnoses my arm and pulled them all along to Lord Danzo.

We reported everything that had happened and I could see when he realized what a goldmine this ability could be even if it could only be used 3 times a day with Shiro's bloodline. He ordered us all to the Hokage's office where Shiro's miraculous jutsu was explained once more. I actually got to see the jutsu used on someone else and watching legs regrow was an odd experience. The calculative gazes of the two most powerful men in the village were settled on Shiro as he began to use his jutsu for the third time this day.

It was too much for him and the cheeky brat actually apologized before he fainted. I didn't wait for either of their signals and caught him before he could hit the ground. The medic checked him over and pronounced him merely unconscious. My breath caught in the back of my throat when the Hokage declared this an S rank secret. This was not good it was far too soon for Shiro to be facing the type of attention an S rank secret brought.

My mind seemed to be going every which way as I brought Shiro back to base to allow them to fully diagnose both myself and Shiro. I patiently went through every single test they could think of and I knew when Shiro had brought far too much attention to himself when Lady Senju attended my checkup. She was infamous among Konoha ninja for her vow to never step back in the village after her lover's death. To see her drawn back at the mention of Shiro's jutsu set all sorts of alarms going off in my head. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Why couldn't he have done this when he could actually take the heat that this seems to be generating?

My thoughts were so jumbled I almost missed Lady Senju pronounce me in full health. Full health? I inquired more about that statement and found that Shiro's jutsu hadn't just healed my external wounds it had healed my internal ones as well. I could have children again. I wanted to cry at the proclamation. This was too much power for one technique. The other villages wouldn't even bother sending anything less than an S rank team to steal the technique, abduct the creator or kill them.

I wandered around in a daze until I found myself next to the edge of the bed Shiro was sleeping in. Why? Why had you done this Shiro? You could have been safe and hidden away until you could survive. Why Shiro? I wanted to scream at him but I held it in. He wouldn't be able to hear me anyway. He's been asleep for almost two days and nothing that the medics have done has been able to wake him. They did assure us that it he was exhibiting all the normal signs of being asleep but he just wouldn't wake up.

I slumped down in the chair next to his bed and just sat there staring at him sleeping peacefully with no knowledge of just how much his actions have stirred the hornets nest. Time seemed to just flow on by and after sitting there for who knows how long I tentatively reached for him. I felt the surrounding Root agents tense but I payed them little mind. My hand made contact with his head and I ran my hand through his surprisingly smooth hair. It felt natural doing this for some reason and unconsciously I started humming.

I did this for a while until I felt him come awake under my hand. Another thing that he does oddly. He's either fully awake or asleep like the dead there is no in between for him. I continue to stroke his hair until he comes fully awake and then I pull away reluctantly. Asking him questions on autopilot allows me to organize my thoughts more before a burning need to fully thank him comes to the forefront of my mind. I know what I need to do.

I rose from my chair and bowed to him, giving my boon in the process. I could feel the shock from the surrounding Root agents and Shiro's response made me smile. So serious all the time. Hardening myself I explained the danger he now found himself in although not the full magnitude of it and allowed him to learn the chakra emissions dampening technique. Of course he learned it in less than a minute the little genius. One of the Root shinobi signaled me that a showing of Shiro's jutsu was about to start in ANBU base #6. 'Already?' I wanted to scream at them but I simply acknowledged it and led Shiro to the entrance of the base.

I tried to get him to at least put on some type of disguise but it was an utter failure. His entire body language simply screamed male but it was simply better than nothing. Maybe any enemy agent would be so confused by such an obvious sign that they'll think it's a double bluff. Probably not.

As I thought all of the sannin saw through him instantly although I would expect nothing less from S rank ninja. Lord Orochimaru kept giving Shiro these really creepy looks throughout the entire jutsu showoff that set my hackles on edge. I couldn't get him out of there soon enough and one of the surrounding ANBU told me that Shiro was to report to the Hokage's tower. I went with him there and as soon as I was dismissed I set off for Kushina's house.

As soon as I arrived I started pounding on the door. I could feel her hurry from upstairs and the door was wrenched open. "What is so important that you need to pound on the door?" She hissed out. "I just got Mito to go to sleep."

"It's about Shiro."

She paled considerable. "Shiro! What happened to him? Is he injured? Is he.." She trailed off at the end.

"No!" She gave me a glare and motioned me to be quiet. "Could I come in please? I don't want to talk about this in the open." Giving me a once over Kushina made me place my hand of a portion of the wall and inject my chakra into it.

"That will allow you to enter for the rest of day or until I remove you from the approved list. Follow me to the living room. Do you need anything to drink?" I shook my head. I just wanted to get this over with. We sat down on her couches across from each other. "So, what happened to Shiro?"

How to explain this? "You know how Shiro seems to do impossible things sometimes?" She cautiously nods. "Well he did something even more impossible and it has brought him a lot of attention." I could see her stiffen at that.

"How much attention?"

"Too much for him to handle. I'm going to have to step up the amount of training I'm giving him just so he can survive. You need to as well." She was quiet for a moment.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Worse." I said matter of factly. Letting silence settle between us I organized my thoughts on the next topic. "There is something I would ask a favor for in regards to Shiro."

"I'll listen to it first if you don't mind." I didn't and I would have thought less of her if she had instantly agreed.

"I… Shiro did something that allowed me to regain my life. It sent him into an almost coma for two days afterwards. I gave him my boon after he woke up." Kushina started at that, but I pushed onwards. "Right after he did it though I hugged him and…" How to explain it? "He just kind of hung there limply like he didn't even know what to do when someone hugs him."

Another pause. "So the favor I ask of you is to be more physically affectionate with him. Everything from hugs, ruffling his hair or just touching his shoulder so he doesn't become even more removed from everyday lifestyle than he already is."

"That's it?" She sounds incredulous. "That's not a favor if I would have done that anyways. He's the big brother of Mito and that means he's family." Good, that's good. "What I don't understand is why you even needed to ask it as a favor? Wouldn't you have done the same?"

I felt shame at her question. "I have nothing to give him." My hand touches my mask. "This is my life. I have nothing outside of it and Shiro has only seen my face a few times over two years. He needs something to keep him grounded and I cannot give it to him." A passion I didn't know I had burns in my voice. "You have a life outside of being a kunoichi. You can face him every day with your face bare to him and provide him an outlet besides being a shinobi. So please, take care of him." I almost twitched when Kushina's hand landed on mine.

"You love him like a son don't you?" Her voice was so gentle, so understanding.

"Yes." It was a whisper but there was a core of steel behind it.

"I understand." And I saw that she did. "I'll take care of him."

"Thank you." I would have said more but I felt Shiro's chakra coming towards the house. "I have to leave." She felt his chakra as well and she motioned me towards the window. I left as I heard him knocking on door. My chest felt lighter as I left him in capable hands. Now it's time to actually get some sleep.

The short nap revitalized me and I left to bring Shiro back to base for his training. Apparently it was not to be. Kushina really had meant that he was family if she was allowing him to study the Uzumaki clan scroll. I did have to lightly cuff him on the back of the head when he told me he hadn't properly thanked her for that honor. Watching him run off I turned and went back to base for a real sleep.

I snapped out of my thoughts when the water turned cold. How long had I been lost in my thoughts? Stepping out of the shower and quickly drying off then getting dressed I went off to bring Shiro back to base. I couldn't feel his chakra in Kushina's house, Ichiraku's or Mikoto's. The training fields were next and I found him surrounded by swirling craters. What happened here?

I had to ask and his answer gave me a headache. He memorized 10,000 brush strokes in a night and then learned an A rank shaping exercise in a day. How? Apparently when he had been screaming by my bed his brain had literally been reworking itself to be better. It was my duty to ask if any other parts of his body had changed even though I didn't want to know. Nonchalantly he told me his eyes were as good as the sharingan now. I feel like getting piss drunk. Actually that's what I'm going to do. Sending him along to the base I flicker over to the nearest liquor store, open 24 hours a day, and picked up 12 bottles of sake.

My next stop had me knocking on the front door of Kushina's house. A silver haired kid opens the door. Kakashi Hatake, 11 year old jonin, considered to be a young genius by many. He doesn't have anything on Shiro. "Hello, how can I help you?" Wow he made that combination of bored, disinterested and cautiousness tone seem downright easy. I held up a few of the bottles of Sake.

"Tell Kushina and Minato I'm here to start drinking because of Shiro and I need a partner." He blinks at that. Before he could respond Kushina came from the living room and saw me. "Kushina, it's time." I held up the bottles. She gave a long suffering sigh.

"Come on in. What did he do this time?" I picked up the bottles and brushed past Kakashi. When I entered the kitchen I saw Minato moping in a chair. I toss him a bottle and he catches it.

"If you're moping because of Shiro I brought enough Sake to drown it all away." He looked at the brand and grunted at it. The bottles were all higher priced ones. Only the best when you need to drown sorrows away and it's not like I really use my money for much anyways.

I turned to Kushina to answer her. "Apparently his bloodline acted up again and with all the other stuff he's done recently I needed this." I could see the spark of recognition from Minato as he got three glasses for us. He knows what Shiro did. How?

"How did his bloodline act up again?" Minato set out the three glasses and poured an equal amount in each. Kushina is his mentor so she'll know after I make my report and both Minato and Kakashi are jonin and trusted to know A rank secrets. A portion of my mask slid to the side and I downed the glass before answering. "Apparently his eyes have the same enhanced perception of the sharingan now."

Both of them sputtering and coughing as their drinks go down wrong. "He told me everything is as clear as when he's standing still when he uses the body flicker. That's not even the worst part. A few days ago he began screaming in agony while clutching his head. Now he has a perfect memory."

There was silence for a moment and then Kushina began to giggle. It grew and grew until she was laughing uncontrollably. Although she couldn't see it I looked at her oddly. "The little brat pranked us. He got this look of pure innocence and confusion like he couldn't understand. Then he asked us if not everyone had a perfect memory." All of it was said around Kushina laughing. Minato just grumbled something that I couldn't hear. "I'll give him that one for free but the next time he pranks me it's on, dattebane!" She turned red after her outburst.

Minato spoke up next. "I've heard you tell me about all those times where Shiro just seems to instantly pick up techniques but actually seeing it is something else. I taught him the rasengan today. It took me 3 years to complete and even Jiraiya took nearly 6 months to learn it. Today it took him less than 5 minutes to get the technique down. He's insanely talented and smart."

"Almost too smart for his own good if you ask me." I mutter and then take another drink.

"I've got one…" And that was how my night went. We would share stories about the absurd things that Shiro has done and at one point I sent a shadow clone to pick up a lot of leaves and teach him the wind leaf exercise. Eventually they had to beg off for the night because of a funeral that they were attending tomorrow. That was fine with me. I left them a few bottles as a gift and then went back to base to go to sleep.

~Interlude End~

The morning of Obito's funeral came quickly. I went out of the base earlier than I needed to in order to find a clothes shop that would have some appropriate attire for attending a funeral. I found one but the lady that was there kept asking me for an adult to pay for the clothes. While technically I was an adult in the eyes of the village after receiving my head band this lady refused to believe me when I said I was a shinobi.

It took jumping up to her ceiling and sticking there that it finally got through her head that yes I was a shinobi. So yes I could pay for my own damn clothes thank you very much. It took another two hours before I was properly outfitted for a funeral and I only had an hour left before the ceremony started. Shrugging I went to Kushina's house.

She opened the door and after giving me a hug led me into the living room where I saw Minato, Rin and Kakashi sitting on the couches. Everyone had somber clothes appropriate for a funeral but Kakashi seemed to have refused to part with his half face mask. They were conversing quietly when I came in and they all gave me a halfhearted greeting. I sat there as they told stories about Obito's life and twenty minutes before the ceremony would begin we all left the house to go to the Memorial Rock.

The ceremony itself was simple and to the point. We had no body to bury and the preacher himself simply gave a speech about how he had bravely fought and died a hero in the eyes of the village. Then his name was carved into the rock and the small amount of people that gathered for his funeral dispersed. I know this is a far bloodier place than where I came from but the seemingly common acceptance of death threw me a little. It was expected that if you choose to become a ninja you probably wouldn't live to retire.

It made me think of my eventual death. Would I have a small group of people show up and carve my name onto this stone one day? My hand traced one of the names carved into the stone. Would I even get that or would my name be forgotten by history? Just another nameless shinobi that died for the betterment of his village. Kushina's hand on my shoulder broke my train of thought. I looked up to see her smiling sadly down at me.

"Let's go home Shiro." I didn't really train the rest of the day with Kushina. My heart wasn't in it.

The next few weeks flew by and I found that both of my sensei's were pushing me harder than ever. I continued to struggle with fuinjutsu with Kushina while Saiko pushed me to my absolute physical limits then beyond ever night. In addition I now had a 3 hour set of time each day where I would use Angel's Breath on two people and then recover my chakra afterwards.

My new routine was broken by the Hokage calling a village wide assembly. From the top of the Hokage tower he seemed to loom over us all and I could see Minato by his side.

"Today,' his voice seemed to come right next to my ear. Some type of jutsu no doubt. 'I have come to inform you of a joyous piece of news. Several weeks ago this man,' he gestures to Minato, 'Minato Namikaze led his team in the destruction of a vital point in the enemies supply lines. He left his team to pursue their mission and rushed to the defense of another portion of the frontline that was under attack. Once there he personally slaughter 1,000 enemy ninja by himself."

He had to stop briefly as the cheering from the crowd rose up. He let it continue for a few minutes and then gestured for quiet. "After his valiant defense of the frontline he resumed his original mission and completed it. I have since personally received several envoys from Iwa and I am here to tell you that as of today Iwa has officially surrendered to Konoha." If the crowd was loud before it was deafening now.

This time the Hokage let the cheers go until the crowd noticed he had more to say. "It is in light of his efforts and exceptional service to the village that I announce that Minato Namikaze will shadow me for the next few months to learn the ins and outs of being Hokage." The murmuring of the crowd grew. "At the end of that period I will step down from being your Hokage and Minato will become the Yondaime Hokage." The cheers of 'Yondaime' rang out throughout the village as they beheld their new leader. The Hokage stepped back and Minato stepped forward. Motioning for silence the crowd quieted to hear their new leader's words.

"Today is a great day for Konha. Iwa has tested themselves upon our might and have found themselves wanting. Though we now close the western chapter in this war Kiri and Kumo still test themselves against us to our south and north. We will show them just as we have shown Iwa that Konoha is strong where they are weak. Once they are shown the folly of attacking Konoha we will stand tall above them and it shall be possible because the Tree is strong and the Will of Fire burns within us all. Then I shall proudly lead Konoha as we experience peace and prosperity. Thank you everyone." Both Minato and the Hokage stepped back and out of view from the crowd. It didn't stop them from cheering though.

Kushina tugged on my sleeve and we both roof hopped back to her house to get away from the crowd which seemed to be getting into a party mood. Before we could enter the house though 4 ANBU flared their chakra and briefly stepped into view before disappearing. She gave a huff at that and then opened the door to find a clone of hers holding Mito. The clone handed over Mito and then exploded into smoke. What kind of clone was that? I wondered.

I could hear the sounds of cheering even as we sat down on the couch. There was a moment of silence between us before Kushina broke it. "Did you know that I wanted to be Hokage when I was a child?"

"No, I did not. Why did you want to be the Hokage? I've seen how much paperwork he has." She gave a hearty laugh at that.

"Well I didn't know that back then. I had just arrived at the village from my clan's ancestral lands and people were bullying me for having such bright red hair." She absently strokes it for a moment. "I thought that if I could become Hokage then everyone would respect me and no one could bully me." A slight chuckle.

"Probably not the best reason for wanting to be the Hokage but that was what it was. Minato held the same dream as me but for slightly different reasons." She smiled widely. "I told him that such a pretty boy had no chance at becoming Hokage but he stuck with it while my dream changed. Now look at both of us. We both have our dreams." She looked down at Mito.

"Do you hear that Mito." She points outside. "That's people cheering for your daddy. Both of us achieved our dreams so I'm sure you'll achieve yours as well." Mito was brought up and given a kiss on the forehead. Then she looked at me. "I'm sure you'll both achieve your dreams."

What are my dreams? I know I want to survive in this world but that's a goal. What do I dream of doing after that? I thought about it for a while and then came to an answer. I want to travel. Not just across this world but others as well. I want to see things I've never seen before and no one has seen before me. Yes, I thought that is what I want to do.

 **Ding! Quest Received.**

 **Traveler from Distant Lands**

 **Time limit: No duration**

 **A wanderer, a connoisseur of the new, you dream of seeing distant lands and new experiences. Grow strong enough to bridge the gap between dimensions and universes. See all there is to see in the whole multiverse.**

 **Rewards: ?,?,?**

A quest? I haven't had one since I was one. Everything has just been tasks to complete and the question marks for rewards is odd as well. I dismiss the screen but it doesn't stray far from my mind. I have a dream now.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 4 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL**

 **HP: 710/710**

 **Chakra: 23,593/23,593**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 80(88)**

 **VIT: 71**

 **END: 78**

 **DEX: 94(103.4)**

 **INT: 102(106)**

 **WIS: 80(83.2)**

 **LCK: 15**

 **Points: 8**

 **Money: 73,852**

 **Skills gained or changed.**

 **Wind Manipulation (Passive) LVL 8 –12 %**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and wind chakra as well as the manipulation of wind.**

 **Decreases cost of all wind techniques by 2%**

 **Increases control of wind by 8%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.8%**

 ***Wind Leaf exercise (Active 30(23.8)/min) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to wind chakra and back again by 50%.**

 **Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 80 – 15%: Chakra is what you and others will live and die by. By controlling it you stand above others.**

 **Decreases the cost of active techniques by 20%**

 **Increases Chakra control by 80%**

 **Increases Chakra Capacity by 40%**

 **Rasengan (A Rank Active(1000(800))) LVL 5 – 59%**

 **The highest form of shape transformation it requires no hand signs and is extremely quick to form if you master it. The creator considers the technique incomplete without an elemental component to it.**

 **Decreases forming time by 10%**

 **Chakra Emissions Dampening** ( **Active 10(8)/min) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Decreases the amount of chakra that your body naturally emits by 100%.**

 **Fuinjutsu Foundations (Passive) LVL 28 – 8%**

 **Some call fuinjutsu writing in the language of the Gods. Now you begin your journey on the path of a fuinjutsu master.**

 **Increased accuracy when writing seals 28%**

 **Increased speed when writing seals 30%**


	14. Karin

**Authors Note: We finally get to one of the most heavily abused training implements in almost all Naruto canon and fanfiction, shadow clones. I still haven't decided whether to nerf experience gain by 200% or 400% when using shadow clones to learn something. I already feel like he's becoming OP because keep in mind he's only 4 right now. Anyways enjoy the chapter.**

Saiko came to get me before Minato came back home. I said my goodbyes to Kushina and left with Saiko. We traveled back to base but before she could begin my physical training I wanted to ask something.

"Saiko is it possible for me to get three techniques before we begin my training?" She relaxed out of her taijutsu stance before she answered me.

"That would entirely depend on what techniques you are asking for. If you're asking for more elemental techniques than sure but it'll be a maybe if you ask for anything else." That sounds fair enough.

"First off I was wondering whether I could get the mystical palm technique so that I have something that I can use to heal me or others when I'm on a mission. My only other healing technique is a village secret so I can't use it easily."

She seems to consider it for a while before nodding. "I'll get you a scroll on it. Teaching it would be a long… it would normally be a long process but it would be easier to just let you 'eat' the knowledge. What's next?" Yes, healing jutsu score.

"I want something that can improve my taijutsu."

She tilted her head at me. "You can do that by practicing it and growing up so you have a longer reach." Ah, that's not what I want.

"I meant something chakra related that could make me more deadly in close quarters combat. Right now it's a weakness and I don't like that. So since I'm really good at learning chakra related things I was wondering if there are any techniques that could give me an edge."

Saiko sat down on the floor and started rubbing her chin. She sat like that for a while before she spoke up again. "I think I know a technique that could help you there. It's a medical jutsu called chakra scalpels. It creates a small blade of chakra that doesn't need to cut the skin to cut the inside of a body. I do have to warn you that it is hard to use it fatally in battle but you could still cut your opponents muscles and tendons leaving them open for a fatal blow. Does that sound like something you want?" It sounds perfect actually and I nod. One last thing then.

"I don't know what it is called but I saw Kushina perform it and I would prefer a different type of clone than the water one." I frowned momentarily. "It's good for distractions but having a clone that is only operating on 10% of your capacity isn't the best thing every." Saiko nods knowingly.

"I get it you want an upgrade for it essentially. I don't see any problem with that but can you explain what Kushina's clone did when it popped. If you do I might be able to tell you what it was."

"Sure. It was just after the village wide announcement of our victory over Iwa and Minato being announce as the Yondaime Hokage. We went back to Kushina's house and a clone was holding Mito. When it handed her back to Kushina it popped into a cloud of smoke." She made a humming noise at that.

"I know which clone technique she was using then and I'm not sure if I should teach you it to be honest." I gave her my best puppy dog eyes and she snorted. "I told you those don't work on me brat." A kunai was lightly tossed my way and I managed to snag it out of the air by putting my finger in the key ring. Letting it spin around on my finger I gave a small smile at her.

She just continued on as though nothing had happened. "It's not that it's a hard technique it's more of the fact that it's a potentially dangerous one." I had to tilt my head to the side at that.

"Aren't all ninja techniques potentially dangerous? What makes this one more so than all the other ones?" I could feel the halfhearted glare through her mask.

"Don't be a wise ass and this one is more dangerous to the user and not your target like most other techniques. It creates clones by dividing your total chakra between however many clones you make. Say for example you made 4 clones. Each of you would receive a fourth of your total chakra. The upside to this is that if the clone is destroyed without using any techniques you get that chakra back as well as the memories of the clone itself." My eyes widened at that and my mind immediately went to the possible training benefits it could give me.

"See, that right there is why I don't know if I should teach you it. I know you'll try to use them to train but the problem with it is that you get all the experiences of a clone when it pops and that can create a lot of mental fatigue. On the other hand you never seem to get tired and your recently acquired perfect recall tells me your body should adapt to the strain. The key word being should in this case."

Silence settles between us as we both reflect on what Saiko just said. Finally I spoke up again. "If it helps me get stronger faster than I need it. My recent activities have put a lot of attention on me and sooner or later that will bite me on the butt. I can limit it to 15 minutes per clone and go from there. If my body doesn't adapt then I can quit and have a better clone technique but if it works then I'll have a better clone technique along with a training tool."

Saiko seems to consider it for a while before sighing heavily. "You're right but I want you to promise me to not push yourself with this." She stood up and put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm being very serious when I say you cannot try to ignore something if it comes up. If you need to take a break, take a break. If you need to stop then you've already broken or the ignored the first part and you need to stop immediately. So please promise me not to push yourself too hard when you do this."

"I promise I'll stop if I need to stop Saiko." Her hand briefly tightened on my shoulder and then she stepped back.

"Good. Now this is called the shadow clone technique and the hand sign for it is this." She made the hand sign and with a puff of smoke another Saiko was standing next to her. The clone pulled out a kunai and stabbed itself in the leg to disperse into smoke. "One more thing about the jutsu. The clone is easily damaged and dispersed as you just saw. Now you try it."

Alright, I made the required hand sign and then flowed my chakra like Saiko had done.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Shadow Clone Jutsu (B Rank Active(Varies)) LVL 1 – 0 %**

 **This technique creates copies of the user that are corporeal instead of illusions. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among all the clones that are created giving each one a fraction of the user's overall power. The user receives memories from the clone when it disperses and each clone is able to use techniques and skills that the user knows.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

The smoke cleared and I found myself staring at myself. I had never really just stared at any clones I created before and I found myself a little perturbed by how… cold my face seemed. It didn't help at all that I could feel the link between us and while I intuitively knew I could mentally command the clone it could also function semi-autonomously if it chose to do so.

"Good you have it. Now have it dismiss itself." I sent a mental command and the clone pulled out a kunai and jabbed it into its leg. I felt a stream of memories that were not mine and a phantom pain in my right leg before it went away. "How do you feel?" Saiko said cautiously. "Are there any problems?"

I had finished sorting the new memories and nothing felt different. "I'm good Saiko. No problems at all." It was an odd experience but nothing that I couldn't get used to.

"Alright then that's good. I'll be right back after I go get the scroll for the two techniques you wanted. Try not to get into trouble while I'm gone." With that said she flickered out of the room leaving me alone. Time to test this thing out for learning then.

"Shadow clones." I whispered out the name after performing the hand sign. Another puff of smoke signaled the arrival of two clones. I reckoned that with my high chakra regeneration and meditation increasing it even more 3 of me with around 8,000 chakra each was enough for now. We nodded to each other and the two clones went off to work on wind and water manipulation while I worked on more physical aspects. We worked on our separate things for about ten minutes before I decided to dismiss them. The flow of memories hit me but as I thought it wasn't as disorientating as the first time.

Checking my experience I couldn't help but frown. I didn't expect water manipulation to change much because it was kind of a high level but wind manipulation barely changed either. I had to expand the experience bar to even see the change and it was far less than if I had done it by myself. My confusion lasted only for a moment until a thought hit me. Shadow clones probably have a hidden modifier for learning. It seems like a negative one as well.

My disappointment at the potential experience gain being diminished was only momentary because while I wouldn't learn as fast as I would like I still could learn faster than before which is a good thing. It would also seem that my high chakra regeneration rate still applied for my shadow clones so they wouldn't be running out of chakra anytime soon if they stuck to lower level jutsu. I was distracted from my thoughts by Saiko reappearing and tossing me two scrolls.

"It's good I didn't find you laying on the ground unconscious when I got back. I would have banned you from using shadow clones after you woke up, but not before I set Kushina on you for being irresponsible." Her casual mention of setting beast mode Kushina on me made me blink before I thought yes to each pop up that had appeared when I touched the scrolls.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Chakra Scalpels( Active(60(48)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **A blue glow of chakra surrounds your hands and a small blade is projected from your fingertips. This technique is primarily used in surgeries but can also be used in a more offensive capacity as well.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

 **Learned Beginner Mystical Palms (A Rank Active(200(160)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **This technique can be used to diagnosis and cure superficial wounds at this level. At higher levels user's can heal major wounds and later life threatening ones.**

 **Heals yourself 10HP/min**

 **Heals others superficial wounds.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

This is exactly what I wanted although mystical palms highlighted how different my body is from normal people. I could have done without the reminder if I'm being honest. Saiko clearing her throat broke me from my thoughts and I looked over to where she was impatiently waiting. I gave a sheepish smile and created two clones who went to the sides of the room to start practicing. "Let's start then."

The night went well with my physical training as well as popping the shadow clones every 15 minutes and recreating them. I stopped briefly before it was time for my daily Angel Breath session to recover my chakra and then spent the next two hours to recover my chakra completely after I had used it twice.

Before I could leave to go to Kushina's house Saiko stopped me. "There is a mission that just came in that they want you to do. Go to the mission desk and I'll go tell Kushina that you have a mission." She left me and I went towards the mission desk.

Once I got there I found 3 other Root agents, 2 males and 1 female, waiting in front of the desk for the mission. I quickly stood next to them and waited for the briefing to begin.The agent behind the desk began to speak.

"This is a standard B rank mission for the extermination of a bandit camp close to the borders of Kusa. In addition the client has asked for the heads of all the bandits for killing his wife. While it would normally be ranked lower due to the recent conflict there are roves of rogue ninja in the area and as such the mission rank is increased. Try to avoid conflict with them and maintain standard operating procedures during the mission. Are there any questions? No, dismissed."

 **Ding! Task Received.**

 **Exterminate the Bandits (B rank)**

 **Find the bandit camp near Kusa and eliminate all hostiles.**

 **Reward: 500xp, 8000ryo**

We flickered out of the room and began our mission. We left Konoha through the North Gate in a diamond formation and began heading northwest towards Kusa. The journey wasn't entirely uneventful. They weren't kidding when they said that there was a roving rogue ninja problem in the area. Along the way I saw a multitude of low leveled genin with a sprinkling of chunin for variety. We had even run right over the camp of a genin without them even noticing which left me darkly amused.

Reaching the small hamlet which had given the mission we began to search the surrounding area for any signs of people living nearby. After half an hour Ni signaled that she had found something. Forming back up on Ni we followed a trail further into the woods for about 20 kilometers. It would seem that it was the correct trail as we found a large camp of about 30 people in a clearing. My senses told me that none of them had anymore chakra than a civilian.

First we took care of all the sentries that were posted around the camp. It showed an unusual amount of intelligence on their part for actually posting them. Almost none of the bandits I've run into so far had done so. I dropped behind my assigned sentry with nary a whisper and rammed my kunai into his skull. He twitched and started to fall but I caught him and lowered him gently to the ground so he wouldn't make a noise. A quick application of chakra strings saw the body float behind some nearby bushes hiding the body for now.

I repeated the process once more and then met back up with my squad mates. Usually this would be the part where we would unleash a terrifying display of elemental power that would tear the bandits to shreds. This time we would not because the client wanted the heads of the bandits. Why he would want them I have no clue and frankly don't care. All I care about is that this would make me work harder than I normally would.

The signal was given and we flickered next to our chosen target. The man had a brief moment to widen his eyes at my sudden appearance before my tanto took off his head. A man standing next to him seemed to be frozen in shock as the first man's head separated from his body. A fatal mistake he found out as my tanto once more lashed out.

A third man standing slightly farther away had begun to scramble for his weapon before one of my kunai took him in his throat. He hadn't even begun to fall before I flickered to my next target. It became almost repetitive in execution. Flicker next to hapless victim tanto strike to the neck maybe a kunai throw or two and then flicker away. An alarm was raised but it was far too late and they were far too weak to matter. It ended quickly enough as the last few of them started begging for mercy instead of trying to run or fight. We granted their request although not in the way they wanted and began the process of looting all the bodies along with the camp.

It was a pretty good haul with a decent amount of ryo, weapons and various other things that could be reused or sold. Then the process of collecting the heads of all 38 bandits came and we set them on a scroll which Ichi used to seal them all in. Finally there was the post battle clean up as we buried the bodies in the ground and cleaned off any blood on us. Finishing with the cleanup we ran back to the hamlet and knocked on the door of the client.

"Yes." A timid voice called out from inside the house. "Who is it?"

Ichi spoke up. "A group of ninja that took care of a problem for you. We have your requested items as well."

"Do you really? Hang on a moment." He sounded excited and I could hear thumps from within the cottage. The door opened and an older man with white hair and a missing right leg appeared. "You have them?" There was a slightly crazed gleam in his eyes when he said this.

Ichi merely presented the scroll to him. "They're in the scroll?" A nod. "Excellent." He paused for a moment. "Could you listen to a request of an old man?" A few hand signs were exchanged between us before Ichi answered.

"We will listen."

He smiled widely. "As you can see,' he gestured down at his leg, 'it's hard for me to move around like I used to. I would request that you mount the heads on spikes outside of the hamlet with a sign to warn off all further bandits. If you do we'll always go to you for all our bandit problems." Gruesome and not a little unsanitary. Still it would be an effective warning I suppose and left unspoken was the implication that he might give missions out to other villages instead if we don't do this. Another round of hand signs and we agreed. "You can leave after you're done. I've already paid for the job." With that we were dismissed and he went back inside his house.

We left the hamlet and went a little ways down the road. Once there San tapped his foot against the ground causing stone spears to stick up out of the ground. Unravelling the scroll and unsealing the heads we planted them on the earthen spikes although I used chakra strings so I wouldn't have to touch any of the heads. Then we made a simple sign warning of the dangers of resorting to banditry.

The mission complete we made to leave but were interrupted by the arrival of a red haired woman holding what seemed to be a small red haired child. The woman seemed to be unwell if her pale and sweaty skin was any indication. The fact that her breathing was labored hinted towards it as well. All of that could have been an act though as the Kusa headband and her vest told me that she was at least a chunin. My squad mates and I moved apart to avoid being taken out with one jutsu yet close enough to support each other.

There was silence as the five of us stared at each other and we communicated that we couldn't sense any other people near us through hand signs. Finally the woman spoke. "Would you please listen to my request?" More hand signs were exchanged before Ichi spoke.

"Make it fast." She nodded.

"My name is Kino Uzumaki." I couldn't help but have a brief hiccup in my mind when she said her name. Was she part of Kushina's clan? My thoughts were thankfully not translated to body motion. "As you can see I am now a Kusa chunin yet reasons forced me to leave the village." She paused. "I do not seek shelter from which ever village you are from yet I would ask that you take my daughter Karin. She is only a few weeks old and could yet grow up to be a loyal member of your village." Once she was finished speaking she knelt on the ground and bowed to us. Awaiting our answer.

Hand signs that I didn't know went between my three squad mates as they conversed. Ichi spoke up again. "Are you being pursued?"

Kino bit her lip before answering. "I'm not sure but I might be."

"What would you do afterwards if we took your daughter?"

Her eyes briefly glazed over as she looked down at the bundle. When she looked back up there was only steel in her gaze. "What needs to be done to keep her safe." There was a pause and then Ichi motioned me forward to take Karin. I sent a clone and I knelt in front of Kino arms out stretched for the baby. A look of pure relief was on her face as I knelt in front of her. The look changed to one of love and sadness as she brought Karin up to her face and kissed her brow.

"Never let anyone tell you I didn't love you my little angel. I pray that you find happiness in your life." She gave her another kiss and handed her over to me. Her gaze never wavered from Karin as she took out a kunai and stabbed it into her chest. Her eyes never left her even as they glazed over until she crumpled to the ground dead. Ichi was suddenly beside me and after quickly checking over Karin for any traps he sealed Kino's body in a scroll. "We need to leave now."

His voice snapped me out of my thoughts and the clone rushed over to hand off Karin to me. Then we were off at my maximum speed in the standard diamond formation. It hadn't been more than 2 hours before Ichi started signing.

 _Being followed._

 _How many?_

 _Sense two. Confirm?_

 _Confirmed._

 _Skill?_

 _Jonin at least._

 _How proceed?_

 _Yon hang back._

 _San support._

 _Ni take right._

 _I take left. Confirm?_

 _Confirmed._

We stopped running as Ichi and Ni broke formation to run back towards the approaching enemy. San followed behind both of them but allowed them to pull further and further ahead. As for myself I stayed right where I was. I had no desire to battle a jonin today.

You know it is kind of funny but I've never actually seen two highly experienced ninja try to kill each other. The only other times I've been near the action I had to focus on my own battle but now I was at a 'safe' enough distance away to simply watch the fight. All it did was simply reaffirm my belief that I was simply outmatched as I was right now.

I couldn't even see them move as all five of them danced an intricate pattern of death. Metal clashed against metal, the forest burned as huge infernos spewed from their bodies, the earth groaned as it was split apart and shattered, and even the sky grew dark as clouds formed to rain lightning down upon the fighting. As suddenly and violently as the fighting had started it ended. I felt Ni's chakra flare and call me towards the battlefield.

I ran through the battlefield past the burning fires and to the epicenter of the fight. Ichi was on the ground being tended to by Ni for what looked like a series of cuts along his chest. San was in the process of shoving his dislocated arm back into the socket and with a grunt of pain and a pop it was back in. San looked over to me before he started speaking. "Put out the fires with your water jutsu." I nodded and awkwardly made a water clone to hold Karin while I did so. A few minutes later and all of the fires were out and Ichi was sitting up although he seemed to be having some difficulty moving.

"We need to get back to Konoha." Ichi stated as he pushed himself to his feet. He looked over at me. "Set the pace." I nodded and picked up Karin who had begun to fuss in my clone's arms. Going at my maximum speed we ran back to Konoha although along the way Karin had started to cry. Thankfully the walls of Konoha were in sight when she did so and nothing came of it.

We proceeded through the gate and back into the base where Ichi dropped me off at the medical portion of the base along with Karin. "Wait here until they're done and tell the doctors to do the full works." I nodded and went into the door. The room looked like something you would see in a modern day laboratory with vials everywhere and stressed people making notes on clipboards. One of them noticed me holding Karin standing in the doorway and motioned me over.

"What is it?" His tone of voice made him seem like he was annoyed.

"I was told to tell you to give the full works to one Karin Uzumaki. Also would you have something to feed her I think she's hungry?" She was also quite the screamer until Ichi had done something to dampen her voice.

"Uzumaki?" His voice had changed to an excited tone and he motioned to one of his aides. The aide returned with a bottle of milk which he gave to me. What do they just expect me to feed her? That's a lot of trust to give a 4 year old. "Bring her over here and hold onto her while I get some things." The doctor wandered off shouting at various people to bring him things and I sat down on the bed while Karin happily sucked on the bottle of milk.

He came back over after a few minutes of shouting. "Alright just hold her while I work." He uncovered Karins foot and his hand glowed green. I could see a bit of blood being drawn from her foot yet she didn't seem to notice anything and kept sucking on the bottle. The blood formed into a small sphere which he carefully set into a waiting vial which was taken away and set into a machine.

The next few hours progressed in a similar fashion with the doctor carefully monitoring every single thing that could possibly be done. They had even had a Yamanka come in and check for any implanted suggestions that would make her a sleeper agent. Nothing was found to suggest that she was anything other than a normal baby and she was given the all clear. For some reason I couldn't fathom no one seemed in a big hurry to actually take Karin away from me and when they were done clearing her I was just dismissed to go back to my room… with Karin.

Oh, well it's not like it was that much of a deal. She had gone to sleep sometime during the exams and was still sleeping when I got to my room and started writing my report. Once I was finished I left a clone with her and turned it in to the mission desk.

 **Ding! Task complete. Gained 500xp and 8,000ryo.**

I got back to my room just in time to see Karin crying and my clone trying to comfort her like I had done for Mito. As soon as I entered the room and took her from my clone she stopped though. My eyes narrowed at that. That was odd and in the ninja world odd can mean bad things. Shrugging off my thoughts I let her play with my fingers as I sat on my bed. Not really sure why they gave me one but the thought was nice. That was how Saiko found me an hour later and I could almost see the cloud gather over her head at the sight of me.

"Brat, why do you have a baby?"

"Well when a mother and father-" I had to dodge several kunai aimed at my head.

"I'm going to kill Jiraiya. Now tell me the truth." I nodded and told her how my last mission had went. "That still doesn't explain why you still have her."

I shrug at that. "I don't know why either. No one tried to take her from me and just left me to deal with it. Am I supposed to take her to Kushina or something? She's an Uzumaki so I thought I should." She let out a long drawn out sigh.

"Alright stay here and let me go sort this out." As she left I heard her mutter. "What were those idiots thinking just leaving Shiro with a baby?" She flickered out of the room and I settled back in for a wait. A half hour later she came back and motioned me to follow.

"I found out what's going on. Apparently you are supposed to go see if Kushina wants to adopt Karin into her family and if that fails she will be sent to an orphanage." Oh, no chance of the second thing happening then. It still doesn't answer why I was left with her though so I asked about it.

She let out a grunt. "It was something stupid about how you're connected to the Uzumaki clan so you should bear the responsibility until they know about Karin." That does sound kind of stupid. We arrived at Kushina's house and knocked on the door. Karin started to fuss again as the door opened to reveal Kushina holding Mito. I could see her start at seeing a baby held in my arms.

"Shiro, why do you have a baby?" I started rocking Karin as her fussing increased.

"It's a long story can I tell you inside." She seemed to shake herself mental and then welcomed us in. We all went in and sat down on the couches while I told my story. At the end of it Kushina was looking down at Karin with hope in her eyes.

"Are they sure she's an Uzumaki?" I nod at that.

"They did the blood work and it came back positive for a member of the Uzumaki clan. I was apparently told to come here and offer you the chance to adopt Karin into your family." I saw her bite her lip and then look down at Mito.

"I would love nothing more than to adopt her right now but I can't without even letting Minato know about it. Could I hold her though?" I handed her over and she squirmed a bit in Kushina's arm while Mito looked on from Kushina's other arm. Red eyes met blue eyes as they both caught sight of each other and Karin settled down. Their impromptu stare off was interrupted by the door opening and Kushina getting a wide smile. With a twinkle in her eye she rose up from the couch to go greet Minato.

"Honey look I had another baby."

"What!?" Her laughter rang out from the doorway and that's when I knew that they were going to add a new addition to their household.

 **Name: Shiro**

 **Age: 4 year - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 14 - 8% to next LVL**

 **HP: 710/710**

 **Chakra: 23,593/23,593**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 80(88)**

 **VIT: 71**

 **END: 78**

 **DEX: 94(103.4)**

 **INT: 102(106)**

 **WIS: 80(83.2)**

 **LCK: 15**

 **Points: 8**

 **Money: 81,852**

 **New Skills**

 **Chakra Scalpels( Active(60(48)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **A blue glow of chakra surrounds your hands and a small blade is projected from your fingertips. This technique is primarily used in surgeries but can also be used in a more offensive capacity as well.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

 **Beginner Mystical Palms (A Rank Active(200(160)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **This technique can be used to diagnosis and cure superficial wounds at this level. At higher levels user's can heal major wounds and later life threatening ones.**

 **Heals yourself 10HP/min**

 **Heals others superficial wounds.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

 **Shadow Clone Jutsu (B Rank Active(Varies)) LVL 1 – 12 %**

 **This technique creates copies of the user that are corporeal instead of illusions. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among all the clones that are created giving each one a fraction of the user's overall power. The user receives memories from the clone when it disperses and each clone is able to use techniques and skills that the user knows.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**


	15. Kyuubi

**Author's Note: So if you have to thank anyone for this chapter thank the sleeping habits of my parents and grandparents. I'm visiting my grandparents for my grandfather's 84 birthday and everyone else went to bed at 9pm leaving me the last person awake. So I finished up the chapter and here it is. This chapter has a lot of time skip within it but you see one of the major changes that Shiro's presence has caused in the timeline. From now onwards it's going to be sprinting away from canon and Shiro will begin to go on more missions which bring him into heated combat as almost all of them have been carefully selected to not bring him into more trouble than he could handle.**

 **Please enjoy.**

Minato got over his shock pretty quickly and after sitting down and hearing the entire story he eventually agreed with Kushina about adopting Karin into the family although he did jokingly tell me to try to bring home a boy next time. I made no promises and I spent the rest of the day with them until I had to leave. Karin was folded into the family with ease although that might have had something to do with the fact that she was about the same age as Mito. Kushina simply had to do everything twice in regards to baby care and she didn't seem to mind that fact one bit.

The next several months seemed to pass quickly for me as I once more fell into a haze of training which I used my new shadow clones to great effect. Sure they didn't let me gain experience very fast but I could improve three or more skills all at once as well as work on my physical stats. It was great and I saw an immediate improvement just from the past two months.

I also was able to be present for Itachi's first day at the Academy. Some of the kids there had looked at me oddly for already having a head band and one of them had even gone so far as to insult me for 'playing at being a shinobi.' I just ignored him and saw Itachi off. I think my talk with him after he came back from the frontlines had spurred this early entrance to the Academy and resolved to help him whenever he asked for it. I didn't want him to die because I was too lazy to help. Nonchalantly ducking under the wild swing at my head I waved Itachi goodbye and hit a nerve cluster on the boy making his arm go limp.

He stood there in shock trying to move his arm before he began screaming bloody murder about it. It's not like it hurt or anything, I made sure of it, but I suppose it could be disconcerting. One of the chunin instructors appeared and he turned to him for help. It was not to be as the chunin gave me a nod and waved me away. As I left I could hear him loudly berating the child for attacking a shinobi and how lucky he was that I only temporarily disabled his arm for the stunt.

Other than that I attended my second funeral since I have arrived here. The funeral of one Rin Nohara began on a cloudy day. This time there was a body to bury and the ceremony was longer even if it was still very simple in execution. I could see that Rin's death had hit Kakashi even harder than Obito's death and whereas before he was simply cold and distant he was almost catatonic now. All he seemed to do nowadays was train until he stumbled home to collapse into bed and then do it all over again the next day.

Minato and Kushina were both trying to help him deal with his two friends deaths but they had a lot on their plates as well. Minato was trying to learn the ins and outs of being Hokage and Kushina had to take care of two small babies as well as find time to train me. Although as of right now it was more of her showing me how to do a technique and me going off to practice it on my own or writing seal after seal in her living room.

Something good that did happen soon after Rin's death was Kiri surrendering to Konoha. It was very sudden and the village still kept a large force in the area for months afterwards suspecting a trap. When nothing happened and all reports out of Kiri reported them standing down all of their troops to focus inwards Konoha turned to its final opponent in the war, Kumo.

Kumo had been more a border clash than the all-out war between Iwa and Konoha. No hugely major battles had been fought by either side against each other and instead it had devolved into a series of skirmishes. It was odd then that Kumo continued to want to fight even after Konoha had defeated both Iwa and Kiri. It took another 8 months and a large battle where the third Raikage was killed before we entered a mutual ceasefire for the moment.

It didn't seem to matter to the citizens of Konoha that it was merely a ceasefire and not a true peace. For all intents and purposes they considered that we had won the Third Shinobi World War and the celebrations lasted for weeks. Another bit of happy news on the wake of our victory was Mikoto announcing that she was once more pregnant. I had heard about it while accompanying Kushina to Mikoto's house and while Itachi tried to act indifferent about it I could see him hovering near his mother more often in the coming months.

Time seemed to fly by so fast that it almost surprised me when I overheard Kushina talking about a combined birthday party for both Mito and I. Karin had celebrated her 1st birthday a couple of weeks ago and I had given her a small plush animal, a rabbit. A week later and I gifted another small plush animal to Mito as well, a bear. They both seemed to like them well enough but it's kind of hard to tell with a toddler. I didn't get anything to big or expensive for my birthday party. It was mainly practical things such as a set of kunai or a set of explosive seals. You know, normal things to give a 5 year old.

Whatever. Minato had been inaugurated as the Yondaime Hokage several months before my birthday and I almost never saw him nowadays. Apparently I was right about paperwork being a terrible force to reckon with although he had hinted that he was close to finding a final solution to the problem. I'll believe it when I see it.

Kakashi had now almost disappeared from my life entirely what with him being inducted into ANBU. I really didn't think that he should have done that as he was just running away from his problems but I had heard he was doing well within ANBU. More worryingly I had also heard rumors of him being a friend killer after returning to Konoha with the body of Rin. The rumors were persistent on that subject and never truly seemed to die out even as the months went by.

During this time I had also been invited to Itachi's fifth birthday party. It was a far more formal occasion than Kushina's parties and I had to go and buy formal wear just to go to it. I found it dreadfully dull as old men and women praised the up and coming future head of the clan. They had also praised me as well and there were some subtle hints and suggestions to join the clan through a betrothal. Some of them were more blatant with their attempts and both Itachi and I were introduced to young women from 3 years old all the way up to 13 years of age. I fled as soon as politely possible while apologizing in my head for leaving Itachi alone to deal with the vultures. As soon as I left I decided that clan politics were definitely not my idea of a fun time.

I had even told that to Kushina and she had the gall to laugh at my suffering. After she had finished laughing she had told me that it was simply something I would have to grow use to as the clans within Konoha would definitely court someone with no family who had grown so strong at such a young age. My supposed bloodline just sweetened the deal for them honestly. I was warned that I might receive even more invitations to clan events now that my first one was over with. I couldn't help the grimace that formed after she told me that and she just laughed again.

Other than that nothing really happened that was terribly out of the ordinary for two more months after my 5th birthday. It was then that I received my first A rank mission. I had just finished recovering from the usage of Angel's Breath when Saiko showed up. Without any preamble she began speaking.

"We have a mission for today. It'll be just the two of us this time." That's interesting. Usually it's a four man squad for mission unless they don't believe the danger of the mission requires it and even then they sometimes send four. I followed Saiko into the mission office and stood next to her to receive the briefing.

There was a shuffling of papers as the agent searched for the mission. He found it and began to read aloud. "Shiro, no name, and Saiko, no name, you have been selected to carry out an A rank assassination on a merchant, name Ido Nami. Ido is a successful merchant based out of the Land of Waves and the client requests that it seem like his ship sank out at sea. He is personally leaving on one of his ships a day from now from the Land of Waves. Are there any questions? No, dismissed."

 **Ding! Task Gained.**

 **Trouble on the High Seas A rank**

 **Find and carry out an assassination of Ido during his sea bound journey. Destroy the boat as well to make it seem like an unfortunate accident.**

 **Rewards: 800xp, 20,000ryo**

Saiko and I left immediately and set off towards the south towards the Land of Waves. It took us most of the rest of the day but we were able to successfully get to the island before nightfall. Saiko set me to gain a visual on our target while she got some much needed rest. After all we had started in the morning which was usually when she would go to sleep.

I was able to observe Ido for the rest of the day as he and his family sat down for dinner. He was a slightly chubby fellow yet he seemed to always have a smile on his face. Clinically, I took in the sight of him laughing as his 3 year old daughter flung a portion of rice onto his wife's face and the ensuing glare she gave him. I did also idly noted that he was made to sleep on the couch for that and before the sun was even rising he was up and about preparing for his trip. A clone was sent to Saiko waking her up and soon afterwards she was at my side.

We followed him to his ship in the harbor and waited for it to set sail. Wordlessly Saiko handed me a rebreather and we slipped beneath the waves to attach ourselves to the underside of the hull. Of course a clone would keep an eye on Ido and would let us know if he didn't get on the boat for whatever reason. The ship began to move and the clone popped letting us know Ido was on board. Several hours were spent simple waiting on the underside of the ship as it began its journey out of the harbor and onto the open sea. Finally enough time had passed that Saiko touched my shoulder as a signal and we began to rise from the water below.

As I came above the surface of the water I took out my rebreather and threw it in my inventory as well as replaced my mask over my face. That done I strained the water out of my clothes with an application of chakra. While the water wasn't cold it wasn't exactly hot and there was only so much you could do to keep yourself warm with chakra or at least as far as I knew. From above me I could hear men shouting at each other as the ship sped along and glancing around I saw no sight of land. Perfect.

Climbing up the side of the boat I waited for Saiko's signal. Feeling her chakra flare a moment later I jumped over the side of the boat and onto the deck. It was just my luck that Ido and a man I assumed was the captain were standing near the helm of the ship talking about something. I didn't bother to listen in and they both died before they knew there was a threat. I could see Saiko further up on the prow of the boat killing a sailor that was there.

Not really giving it much thought I moved onto the next sailor. They weren't fighters and it wouldn't have mattered much if they were. The attack was too sudden and too swift for them to respond appropriately. In the end 40 men died just to accommodate the client's request. We ransacked the entire ship for anything valuable and then set it ablaze. I watched as I stood above the water from 10 meters or so away as the ship sank into the watery depths. As the last of it disappeared Saiko and I turned away and ran across the waves towards home. It took the rest of the day to return back to Konoha and once we did Saiko briefly left me to drop off all the supplies we had looted from the ship. I settled in and began to write my mission report and I had nearly finished by the time Saiko returned.

"Once you're finished writing the report we'll go turn it in and then do an after action report." I nodded and we did just that. The AAA wasn't anything special as nothing had gone wrong and it was only minor things that I could have done differently. She left me with instructions to practice my taijutsu and physical workout before she left to do something.

I suppose I should have been horrified about the fact that I had just killed 40 uninvolved men just to kill a man for being a business competitor yet I couldn't manage it. All I felt about it was that those men had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and that my mission placed them in the crosshairs. I searched within myself for any hint of sadness or guilt and found nothing. I was unable to feel those emotions about killing only calmness. The ding of a pop up broke me from my thoughts.

 **Ding! Task Complete. Reward: 800xp, 20,000 ryo.**

I idly mused that all the missions that I had been on in the last year or so had left me with a fairly sizable chunk of cash as I stuffed the reward into my inventory. Little to no expenses and fairly well paying missions would do that I suppose. Of course Konoha took a cut on all missions but that was before I actually received my money so everything afterwards was tax free. 2 shadow clones appeared next to me without a hand sign or smoke and went to their corners to train. I had gotten exceedingly good at shadow clones because of how often I used them.

Starting my work out I almost sighed. The stat gain on my physical stats had slowed down tremendously and while there was weights that ninja used to improve both Saiko and Kushina denied me the use of them until I was at least 12. Apparently it could actually impede my growth if I used them when I was too young and they weren't willing to take the risk that my bloodline would adapt to them.

The one time I had asked about a gravity type of seal to use for training Kushina had been horrified about why I wanted to use a seal meant to kill and detain people for training. If only she could have seen the benefits of gravity chamber training I lamented. Instead she had told me to get stronger naturally without trying to kill myself and then sentenced me to play with Mito and Karin as she left with a bottle of sake. I had fun making them 'fly' in the air with chakra strings and they did as well with how much they were giggling.

Oh well. My work out for the night finished and I went to perform Angel's Breath on two more people. Recovering from that I made myself ready to attend Itachi's graduation ceremony. The little genius had finished the Academy in a year and true to my word I had helped him whenever I was able to spare a moment. I went to the Academy and waited off to the side away from his parents. It wouldn't be proper to stand next to them for an event like this as it would imply that I was bonded to their clan. Going over to them after they had invited me just showed that I was close. Stupid I know, but clan politics could be stupid like that.

I watched as Itachi came out of the Academy with his shiny new head band gleaming in the sun as he made his way over to his father and visibly pregnant mother. Mikoto gave him a hug and Fugaku merely nodded at him. It wouldn't do for a clan head to show emotion in public now would it I mockingly thought. Itachi saw me and waved me over. I gave him a smile and made my way to them.

"Greeting Lord Uchiha and Lady Uchiha. I wished to congratulate Itachi for graduating from the Academy in a year." I gave a formal bow to them. Have I mentioned that I hate formalities and any type of politics yet?

Mikoto was the one that answered me. "We thank you for that. I do believe that my husband and I will retire to our house soon where you would be welcomed to join a small gathering to celebrate this occasion later this day." I wanted to groan. Not another gathering. Nothing of that showed on my face when I replied though.

"I would be honored to be able to join you at your home for such a joyous occasion." A small smile appeared on her face.

"Wonderful, I shall expect to see you at 8 then. Good day Shiro."

I gave another bow. "Good day to you as well Lord Uchiha and Lady Uchiha." They walked off after saying goodbye to Itachi which left me alone with him. I turned to him and eyed his sparkling metal head band tied around his forehead.

"That's a sparkly piece of metal you have there." I could see him look down at head band tied around my left arm and how it was dull with no reflection. His eyes narrowed and then darted towards other shinobi parents whose head bands were the same while the new genin's gleamed in the sunlight. I could see the light of realization shine in his eyes.

"I see." I gave him a knowing grin.

"Good. Do you have a team assignment yet?"

"No. The team assignments will be given out at the end of the week." I didn't know that but it made sense. They couldn't know who actually passed the exam before it began but I thought they may have already selected teams based off reports from the Academy and made tweaks as necessary.

"I see. Is there anyone who you are hoping to be paired with?" He considers it for a while and then shakes his head. Out of the peripherals of my eyes I could see a small group of girls forming. They seemed to be talking excitedly and pointing at us.

"Itachi, why are a group of girls giggling over there and pointing at us?" I saw a visible shiver run through him.

"We need to leave now." Huh, I've never heard him sound so urgent.

"Fine. Take my hand and close your eyes." He doesn't question and as his hand touches mine we flicker away to appear next to the Uchiha gate. As soon as the technique ended he stumbled and I had to grab his shoulder to keep him from falling.

"What was that?" Itachi managed to say as he regained his balance.

"A high speed movement technique that I can't teach you until your control is better. Wouldn't want you to tear your body apart trying to do it now would we?" He vigorously shakes his head negatively and stops when it seems to upset his balance.

"At least you didn't vomit the first time." I looked up to the sun. "I have to get back to Kushina now but I'll see you at your celebration later tonight."

"Okay I'll see you there." I watch as he enters the Uchiha gates and then flicker away. I spent the rest of the day with Kushina and briefly went to go get a gift for later tonight. The celebration was as boring as the last time and just as annoying to deal with the politics involved but nothing of real note happened so that was good.

I left when I could and the next few months were spent training and going on missions. Itachi passed the secondary genin test and ended up on team 3. Apparently there had been some strife from the fact that Itachi was so young and his team mates were both 8 years old. It was sorted out eventually after Itachi proved he could keep up with them and indeed surpass them in some areas. I was only peripherally aware of this as most of my time was not spent hanging out with Itachi.

Instead I was far more focused on the fact that Kushina had announced that she was pregnant again. The news wasn't widely spread but enough people knew about it that we could throw a celebration for her. Thankfully this one was far less stuffy than all the Uchiha's celebrations. Several more months passed and Mikoto gave birth to a baby boy that she named Sasuke. It was funny seeing the normally placid Itachi devote his entire focus on him when he was handed Sasuke. He seemed like far more a child in that moment than any other that I've seen him.

Other than that nothing extraordinary happened. We still had a cease fire with Kumo although I heard there was plans for peace being talked about. My missions and training continued apace. It seemed like everything was going smoothly. That feeling ended the day Kushina announced that her water had broken.

 **Ding! Quest Received.**

 **Survive!**

 **?**

 **Rewards: ?, ?**

We were sitting at the kitchen table and Minato had looked up from his meal to beam at her. Even Kakashi lifted his uncaring attitude briefly to congratulate her. While everyone else was celebrating and getting ready to leave I was sitting in my chair sweating.

'Just survive. Nothing else? No clue to what's coming.' Of course as soon as I thought that I knew it had something to do with the Kyuubi. Why else would the pop up happen as soon as Kushina's water broke.

"Is something the matter Shiro? You seem pale and you're sweating." Kushina seemed to have noticed my unusual behavior. I ignored her for a moment and turned to Minato. I somehow need to tell someone about this.

"Lord Hokage, I would ask that you station more protection around Kushina during this time." His cheerful demeanor vanished and his look became cold and calculating.

"Why would I need to do so? Would you happen to know of any threats that you have not informed me off?" I shook my head vehemently.

"You may think me silly for what I say but please do not dismiss it. As soon as I heard that Kushina's water broke I had a horrible premonition that something bad was going to happen. Please, it costs you nothing to station more guards and if I'm wrong then we can all laugh about it afterwards." The room fell silent after I had finished talking and the entire time I kept eye contact with Minato to try to convey how serious this was.

Slowly Minato began to speak. "I believe that sometimes all that saves a mission are instincts. A shinobi that disregards their instincts usually doesn't live as long and in this case you are correct that it costs me nothing to be more cautious. I will station more guards around Kushina but I want you to stay here and guard Mito and Karin."

"Thank you and I will protect them with my life." He slowly nodded and then all three of them flickered away, but not before Kushina gave me a small smile while Mito and Karin got kisses. The next 12 or so hours I was restless and paced back and forth along the living room. I think both Karin and Mito picked up on it because they began to cry more often over the course of the day. I knew whatever precautions Minato had set had failed as I felt the world go still. For one single moment the world seemed to holds its breath and the next a terrible crushing weight bore down on me.

The rage that had been confined was loose upon the world again. Karin immediately screamed and fainted while Mito began making choking noises as the oppressive weight of the Kyuubi's chakra crashed down upon us. I couldn't let her die and I scooped up both of them into my arms while extending my chakra beyond my body forming a shield against the pressure. All around me I could feel others doing the same and the ANBU stationed outside of the door were signaling me for immediate extraction.

I flickered outside and was immediately surrounded by 4 ANBU as they put me in the center of the formation. We set off in the complete opposite direction from where the Kyuubi's chakra was emanating. All around me I could see civilians falling to their knees as the pressure became too much for them to handle. As we ran I felt its chakra disappear for an instant and reappear in the center of the village. 'It could teleport' my mind screamed at me yet I felt nothing but calm as the mountain sized beast appeared in front of us.

Its tails began to thrash about destroying large portions of the village with a single swipe and it screamed its rage to the sky for all to hear. The sound made a visible distortion in the air and I could feel it in my chest as it passed us. Ninja began to leap at the beast yet they might as well have been moths flying towards a flame they died just as quickly and pointlessly. Seemingly annoyed at the charging ninja it began to charge some type of ball in front of its mouth and I could feel just from the amount of chakra being pumped into it that we were going to die. The attack finished charging and a reddish beam of light shot out bathing Konoha in its light.

Yet the attack never hit. It was intercepted by Minato and off in the horizon a bright flash of light formed as the attack hit home. The aftershocks of the explosion hit us just as Minato and the Kyuubi disappeared from the village yet I could still feel the Kyuubi off in the distance advancing towards Konoha again.

"Move." One of the ANBU called out and it snapped me out of my thoughts. We sped along until we reached one of the evacuation shelters where I was told in no uncertain terms to stay the fuck here and don't move. 3 of the ANBU agents left leaving me with the last one and a small crowd of civilians. I hugged Mito and Karin closer to myself as I felt the fight rage on outside. It was a horrible feeling to be so helpless against such power which was made worse by the fact that they wouldn't even let me try to fight against it. Not that I wanted to of course but still I would be doing something. Instead I was made to cower in a hole in the ground with the rest of the civilians.

I felt Minato's chakra appear right in front of me. Looking up I saw him covered in blood and missing his right arm. I also saw something I had never seen before on his face, rage. This was not the calm and collected Minato I knew but one driven by anger. "Give me Mito." His voice was sharp, harsh and to the point.

He wants to put it back into a seal my mind supplied me. Why isn't he using Kushina then? Is she dead? I handed her over as I spoke up. "Do you need me to heal your arm?" There was the slightest pause from him before he spoke.

"How long would it take?"

"3 minutes."

"No, it would take too long." Then he was gone taking Mito with him. I settled back down waiting for the fight to conclude. It ended as suddenly as it had begun. The Kyuubi's chakra seemed to vanish and all around me people began to relax. It was another 10 minutes or so before the ANBU motioned me to follow and they led me to one of the ANBU bases. Opening the door I was greeted to the sight of Kushina and Mito laying side by side on cots and Minato sitting upright on a nearby cot. He looked up as I entered and while his face still showed anger it wasn't the burning rage from before.

"Are they okay?" I asked as soon as I saw them.

"No, but they will be. Kushina is dying and I need you to heal her." As soon as he said that I was rushing over to her side. I gently laid Karin next to Mito and began making hand signs. "Just so you know I've already done this twice today so I'm going to faint afterwards. I just wanted you to know so you don't expect me to be able to heal your arm right afterwards."

He nodded. "I can deal without an arm for a few days and as long as you can save her it will be worth it." I hummed at that but I didn't have any more time to talk as my technique finished and chakra began to flow into her. It seemed to be taking longer than usual but eventually it finished and I began to feel faint. I could hear Minato voice just as I lost consciousness standing over me. "Thank you Shiro."

 **Age: 5 year - 11 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 18 - 26% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,230/1,230**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 123**

 **END: 110**

 **DEX: 140(154)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 96(101.76)**

 **LCK: 18**

 **Points: 28**

 **Money: 264,239**

 ***Prestige Skills are as follows**

 **Speed (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Skills that changed:**

 **Chakra Manipulation 80 - 100**

 **Yin Manipulation LVL 26 – 23%**

 **Chakra is the mixture of spiritual and physical energy while Yin is purely spiritual.**

 **Increase control over Yin by 26%**

 **Increases chakra pool by 20%**

 **Yang Manipulation LVL 24 – 10%**

 **Chakra is the mixture of spiritual and physical energy while Yang is the purely physical.**

 **Increases control over Yang by 24%**

 **Increases chakra pool by 20%**

 **Water Manipulation 61 - 92**

 **Lightning Manipulation 35 - 70**

 **Fire Manipulation 1 - 25**

 **Wind Manipulation 8 - 53**

 **Angel's Breath 1 - 3**

 **Chakra Scalpels 1 - 10**

 ***Prestige skills gained**

 **Beginners Mystical Palms - Apprentice: 20/min heal, Cuts and breaks**

 **Rasengan 5 - 10**

 ***Prestige skills gained**

 **Kenjutsu Intermediate 6 - Adept 3**

 **Poison Resistance 10 - 29**

 **Meditation 49 - 63**

 **Sneak 68 - 89**

 **Sense Chakra 45 - 69**

 **Fuinjutsu Foundations 28 - 86**

 **Taijutsu Expert 9 - Master 8**

 **Pain Tolerance 19 - 28**

 **Skills that Evolved**

 **Lesser Giant Strength (Passive) - Giant's Strength LVL MAX: Grants a 20% bonus to STR**

 ***Lesser Troll Regeneration (Passive) - Troll Regeneration LVL MAX: Grants a 2% bonus to Health Regeneration**

 ***Bronze Skin - Iron Skin (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 20% damage reduction**

 **Skills that were Learned**

 **Water Release**

 **Hiding in the Mist (D Rank Active(100(52))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a thick mist around the user in a 50x50 meter range.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **Prisoner Ball (B Rank Active(500(260)))LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a sphere of water around the target that traps them and drains their chakra at 5%/min. The user cannot move when using this technique.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **Water Dragon (A Rank Active(1000(520))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a giant water dragon that you can control. This technique requires the user to stand still if they want to direct the dragon.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige skills**

 **Lightning Release**

 **Electromagnetic Murder (B Rank Active(500(287))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a wave of lightning from the user's hands. It can range from shocking to powerful enough to rip through rocks.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **Lightning wall (C Rank Active(250(154))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates a 10x10 meter long wall of lightning that damages anyone that tries to cross it.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **Lightning Shadow Clone Jutsu (A Rank Varies) LVL 6 – 15%**

 **Creates a shadow clone with all the other benefits of the shadow clone jutsu with the exception of not regaining chakra when it pops. When it does pop the clone reverts to its electric nature and shocks whoever is touching it.**

 **Decreases casting time by 30%**

 **Wind Release**

 **Gale Palm (C Rank Active(250(154))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale that can easily knock over a human. Combining this technique with thrown weapons is where this technique shines.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **No Hands (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Eliminates the need for hand signs**

 **Wind Slash (C Rank Active(250(154))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates multiple blades of wind which can be combined to one large blade that can be thrown at the opponent.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **Vacuum Sphere (B Rank Active(500(308))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Creates several small blasts of wind chakra is such a manner that they are dispersed over an expansive range. The expelled technique are capable of piercing through the opponents flesh when they collide.**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **Vacuum Blade (E Rank Active(50(30))) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Infused wind chakra into a blade or sharp weapon giving it increased range and cutting power.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **No Hands (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Eliminates the need for hand signs**

 **Over 100 stats skills**

 **Note: he didn't roll well enough for an extra skill for END, VIT or DEX.**

 **Burst Strength (B Rank Active(500(375))) LVL 8 – 16%**

 **Gives the user a boost of strength over the next ten minutes.**

 **Grants an 80% increase in strength**

 **Inhuman Reflexes(Passive) LVL MAX**

 **Your body will react before you even begin to process that you are in danger.**


	16. Kyuubi Fallout

~Interlude~ Minato

The burning inferno that had been stirring inside me cooled slightly as I caught Shiro before he could fall. Already I could feel Kushina's chakra stabilizing and the medic that gave me a nod after he checked on her reassured me even further. Shiro was gently taken out of my arm and laid down on the cot that I had been sitting on. Taken out of context the scene of all four of them sleeping next to each other would have plucked at my heart strings on any other day. Now it just fanned the flames a little more. 'There should be five,' a traitorous portion of my mind spoke up. 'If only you were faster, stronger, this never would have happened.'

I shook my head to clear it. This is no time for self-doubt Konoha needs it Hokage to be strong. The thought sends a twinge of pain from my missing arm but I ignore it. The wound will be healed in two days although there would be no way to hide the fact that it regrew. Too many people saw me without an arm tonight to make that feasible. My gaze rested on Shiro for a moment. Without him Kushina would have died and I would be maimed for life. Hell, without his warning this could have been much worse than it already was. I would have to give him something to show my appreciation later, but what can you give someone who you owe your families lives to?

There would be time to figure it out later though. Now I have a village to lead. Straightening I addressed the ANBU in the room. "I want two squads of ANBU in here at all times. The enemy that set loose the Kyuubi was able to use some type of space-time ninjutsu to travel vast distances and become intangible to attack. Do not let any of these people out of your sights. I will be in the Hokage's tower if people need me."

"Yes, Lord Hokage." I took one last look at my family before I tugged on one of the anchoring seals in the office teleporting me there instantly. I was already shouting out orders before the others that were there knew I had arrived.

"Bring me a preliminary casualty report. Tell the clan heads to deal with their clans but be ready for a meeting within the next four hours. Recall Jiraiya and Tsunade, if she tries to brush you off tell her that she will be declared a traitor and listed in the Bingo books. Someone get me Lord Danzo."

The room quickly emptied as the stationed ANBU leapt to carry out my orders. For the next few hours I was mired in a constant stream of reports about the state of the village, estimated casualties and ordering people about to best help the relief effort. At the 3 hour mark Danzo showed up wrapped in more bandages than usual and missing his right arm.

I couldn't help myself with the quip that came to my lips. "Look we're matching." I waved the stump of my right arm at him. He didn't look amused at all.

"I have no time for jokes right now Lord Hokage." My gaze sharpened as I looked at him.

"You are quite correct. Now is a time for business." Standing up from my chair I walked to look over the nighttime village. Off in the distance I could still see some fires burning. "The release of the Kyuubi was probably felt throughout all the lands and many eyes will be upon us looking for the first sign of weakness so they may strike." I turned back to him.

"I need your group to make sure they do not find it. For every scrap of information I want them to pay a sea of blood and find that the information was incorrect. To do this I will be freeing up most of your missions that you would normally take and making the jonin and ANBU work overtime. People must see this as, one might see a mosquito, an annoyance but one that is easily handled. Can your organization handle this?"

"The Root supports the Tree and we will not fail you in this." Good but still not enough.

"You've been leading this village from the shadows for a long time and I would appreciate your advice in the coming days on options for making Konoha look strong and then making it real. I would also have you look into the man behind this. A man wearing an orange mask, long black robes and a chain connecting his arms."

He bowed to me. "Of course. I will think of some plans and get back to you soon but I must leave soon if I'm to carry out your task."

"Go then. I have a meeting with the clan heads soon." He left and the backlog of things that needed to be taken care of came flooding into my office. I tried to sort them all as quickly as possible but in the end I had to leave a clone behind as I headed to the clan meeting.

The meeting room was filled with the various clan heads and they all rose and bowed to me as I entered the room. "Everyone sit, we do not have time for formalities right now." They sat when I did so at the head of the table. "What I want right now is the preliminary casualty reports from each of your clans and we will go from there."

The news wasn't good. Most of the clans were reporting anywhere from 10-20% casualties and some were even worse. The silver lining in this is that many of them were maimed and not dead. Shiro's jutsu was able to be performed by 3 other people besides him right now although they had a tendency to turn very small parts of people into stone still. It was better than nothing and the stone could be cut away then healed.

The new information settled into my mind and plans were made but I moved onto the next agenda I wanted to cover. "Thank you for getting those reports to me as quickly as you did. I ask that all available ninja work overtime in the coming days to make it seem as though nothing has happened to Konoha." I got nods from all the clan heads although I noticed some of them glancing at my missing arm. Those that didn't probably had an inkling of the new technique that was restoring our loyal ninjas to full health.

"I also wanted to inform you all of the danger the person who set the Kyuubi on us poses. He was able to infiltrate a heavily secured room through the use of a space-time ninjutsu and,' my voice hitches for a moment and when I spoke again there was an undeniable undercurrent of rage, 'killed my newborn son." The surrounding clan heads were silent in the face of my fury.

"He also killed the stationed ANBU guards and the late Hokage's wife. He seemed to be able to turn intangible at will although I did manage to hit him when I moved too fast for him to react. In addition he had some way to control the Kyuubi but I do not know how." A lie, I would have to speak with Fugaku after this meeting. "In the end I was able to force him to flee at a cost." There were more glances at my missing arm.

"I did not catch sight of this man's face as he wore an orange mask along with a long black robe with chains around his arms. If you encounter this man be extremely cautious and call for backup immediately." I gave them my warning about the man although as soon as I was healed and the village stable I planned to teleport to his side and kill him. The connection to my seal burned in the back of my mind and it took everything I had to ignore it for the moment.

"Lord Hokage what of the Kyuubi? What happened to it?" Hiashi Hyuga inquired.

I had to think for a moment before I answered. "The official story will be that our late Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, managed to defeat the Kyuubi. The unofficial story that will not leave this room is that he was able to reseal the Kyuubi into my child Mito at the cost of his life. There will be a funeral in three days time to honor his sacrifice. That is all I have planned for this meeting. Is there anything that needs to be addressed at this time?"

There were a few things but we managed to sort them out quickly enough. "I call this meeting to an end. Return to your duties." They stood and bowed but before Fugaku could leave I called out to him. "Lord Uchiha I require your presence to discuss additional duties the State Police will be required to carry out for a time." Curious looks were sent our way but no one inquired their unasked question of why this had not come up during the meeting.

"Of course Lord Hokage." Fugaku said as stoic as ever. What I plan to talk about would probably disrupt that though.

"Meet me in my office." We flickered to my office where my clone was still hard at work. I sent it outside my office to direct people then sealed the office as soon as it had left. Curiosity and caution briefly flickered on Fugaku's face as the seal went up.

I stared at him for several moments before I began to talk. "What we are about to discuss are things that relate to your clan. More specifically they relate to your bloodline." He stiffened noticeably at that. "I must say before we begin that as your friend and as the person who fought the masked man I know that your clan is not responsible for this attack. I have never felt his chakra within Konoha before even though it had a familiar quality to it that I could not place." I saw him relax fractionally although my next words reversed that.

"Regardless of that fact the man I fought had a sharingan in his right eye. It was like nothing I had seen before in a sharingan. It was red yet instead of the three tomoe it had three evenly spaced stretched triangles that curved around the top of the eye. What I'm asking is whether or not this was a mutation of your eye or simply a level that I have not seen before?"

Fugaku was silent although I could see that he did not want to be here at all. "Are you asking me to reveal clan secrets?"

"I am asking you to reveal anything you may know about the threat which attacked us just a few hours ago. Nothing you say will go beyond myself. I give you my word on the matter." I could see him waging a battle within himself before he came to an answer.

"There is indeed a more advanced state of the sharingan than what most people have seen." He paused for a moment. "What I'm about to tell you must not get out but seeing the death of someone extremely close can cause the sharingan to advance to what we call the Mangekyo sharingan. It is the belief of most of the clan that you must kill someone close to you in order for the eyes to advance. As clan head I know differently but have chosen to let the rumor stand in order to identify those who would seek power at any cost. The Mangekyo sharingan is much more powerful and has different abilities for each user but it comes at a cost. The user will slowly go blind with each use of the Mangekyo sharingan until darkness overcomes them."

I slowly nodded at that. "So would a non Uchiha be able to implant one of the sharingan and be able to advance them to the Mangekyo sharingan? I only ask because as I have stated before I have never felt this person's chakra within Konoha before." He considered the question for a while before answering slowly.

"I do not know. It may be possible but it has never happened before to my knowledge."

"Thank you for revealing these secrets to me. I swear not a word of what was spoken here will be revealed to anyone without your express approval as clan head. Now I do actually have some duties that I need the State Police to carry out so let's go over them." The next half hour was spent going over plans and contingencies with Fugaku before he was dismissed. My clone popped and I let the influx of new memories wash over me, taking in everything to commit it to memory. As soon as I did a fresh stream of people came flooding into the office and I shrugged off my exhaustion. I wouldn't rest until the crisis had been dealt with. With a roll of my shoulders I set to work.

~Interlude End~

As always a blinking pop up greeted me when I awoke but there was more than one box this time.

 **Ding! For sleeping in a bed HP and Chakra are set to 100%. All status effects have been removed.**

 **Ding! Quest Survive! Complete.**

 **You have survived the attack of the Kyuubi upon the village of Konoha. Congratulations.**

 **Rewards: 10,000xp, Skill ID Create**

 **Ding! LVL up**

 **Learned Instant Dungeon Create (S+ Rank Active(10,000(7,500))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Creates a dungeon that is separated from reality. Stronger monsters and dungeons are available at higher levels.**

 **Possible Dungeons:**

 **Empty**

 **Zombies (not your everyday variety)**

I wanted to sigh. This was one of the skills that I considered getting but in the end I didn't do it because I would be too tempted to use it. Everyone would have been all over me as soon as I returned. Hm, at least I have a good excuse this time.

"Shiro, you're awake!" I looked to my right to see Kushina sitting on a cot next to me as Mito and Karin slept behind her. Now that I could concentrate on not having to heal her I could feel how diminished she felt to my senses. She was no longer a glowing sun and had been dimmed to a roaring fire. I could still feel some of the Kyuubi's chakra floating within her but it seemed to be steadily vanishing as the source was no longer there.

Now I could feel the Kyuubi's chakra emanating from Mito instead. I expected it would happen when Minato ordered me to hand her over yet it did not fill me with joy that I had guessed correctly. In fact I wished I had guessed wrong and he merely needed her for something else. My eyes went back to Kushina as I finished my quick observation.

"Hello, Kushina-"

"Call me mom!" What? I blinked at that and she turned red but pushed onwards. "You always call me Kushina or sensei but Minato told me how you saved my life so I wanted to extend the offer." The next part was a rush of words but I was able to catch it. "Of course you don't have to if you don't want to but it would be nice if you did because you're like a son to me but you're so distant sometimes. It's always like you don't really connect with people and I know we talked about it before but I would still like you to call me it."

Huh, was I still so distant from others? Looking back I would have to say yes to that. I was just so focused on getting stronger that I put relationships to the side and I can't see that as a bad thing. I still tried to interact with people but I didn't put much effort into it. The Kyuubi appearing just showed me how weak I am compared to other things out there in this world and while I'm almost unbelievably strong for my age it isn't enough.

Still it wouldn't hurt to have more interactions with others and Kushina had been like a mom to me in this life. "Mom?" I tested the word to see how it felt to call her that. It felt strange to say that to someone who isn't my mother, whom I still had memories of, but at the same time it felt right to say it. The million watt smile and the bone crushing hug told me it was the right choice. I think I should hug her back in this situation. I could feel her stiffen slightly when I did so but then her hug got even more intense as impossible as it seemed.

The moment lasted until I felt Minato's chakra appear and I heard him clear his throat. "Minato, Shiro called me mom!" There was a certain amount of pride in her voice as she announced this. I couldn't see Minato's reaction as he was behind me but I could still hear him just fine.

"That's great honey, but I need to talk to Shiro right now." Ah, right his arm. Can't have the Hokage crippled for too long. I disentangled myself from my mom and didn't that feel weird calling her that in my head to turn to him. Minato looked tired. There was no question about it right now. Everything about him just screamed exhaustion at this point.

"Shiro, I know this might be sudden but are you able to heal my arm yet?"

"It's no problem at all. I feel fully ready for anything anytime that I wake up. Do you want to lay down on a cot first before I heal your arm?" I stood up from the cot as I was saying this. Minato's eyes closed for a moment and then he nodded.

"After you heal me I think I'll take a nap. The village is as stable as I can make it at the moment and I need one. After you are done healing me Danzo wishes to see you as well. I'm sorry to say this but then he'll give you a mission because we need every shinobi out in the field at the moment." He made his way over to the cot and laid down on it.

"It's fine. A shinobi's duty is to his village. When you are able I wish to discuss a technique I feel I am able to perform now." His eyes which were drifting closed shot open when I said that and focused on me. There was a certain amount of unease within them when he spoke.

"Is it anything like your healing?" I considered that for a moment. I didn't truly know the extent of my new skill but if I was able to create an empty ID and then move around to appear back in the world in a new location it could be extremely useful.

"I don't know yet I just know how to do it and haven't tested it out. I think it's similar to my pocket space." I heard groans from both Kushina and Minato.

"Great another space-time ninjutsu. Just what we need." He let out a huge sigh before fixing me with a glare. "We'll discuss this later but in the meantime do not try it yet." I gave him a nod and began the hand sign sequence for Angel's Breath. Finishing them I felt my chakra flow into Minato and watched his arm grow back. A slight gasp was the only reaction I heard from Kushina and the technique cut off as his arm finished regrowing. He let out a tired sounding, "Thank you," before succumbing to his exhaustion.

"So that's your S rank secret then." I felt Kushina pull me into another hug from behind. "Minato told me about it after I woke up but to see it is something entirely different. Thank you for healing both of us." She hugged me tighter after she was done speaking and I let her do so for a while enjoying the feeling. After a while I did have to reluctantly pull away. Duty calls.

"There is no need for thanks mom I would have done it anyways. Lord Danzo is expecting me though so I do have to leave. Once I am done we can talk about everything that happened in the last few days." I also wanted to give her more time to grieve for the child she lost. She hid it well but I could see how sad she was right now. I think the only reason she isn't crying is the fact that I'm awake and talking to her so she put up a façade.

I started pulling clothes and ninja supplies out of my inventory as I talked. By the time I had pulled out everything and put it on I had finished talking. She ruffled my hair and gave my one more smile before I placed the blank mask over my face. "Silly boy I wanted to thank you and we will definitely talk once you are through with your mission."

Turning away from her I called out to one of ANBU I vaguely felt around the room. "Could one of you please lead me out of this base?" One of them appeared in front of me and motioned me to follow. "Thank you." I was led through a winding passage of corridors before arriving outside. I gave the ANBU a nod and with a quick glance to verify where I was I took off.

Passing through the village I could see where vast swaths of the village were gone or buried in rubble. A veritable army of genin was picking through the rubble and sorting it while more competent ninja worked to repair the damages. While I saw quite a good deal of misery the vibe of the village was not one of despair but more optimistic than anything else. It was like the people living here had done a collective shrug and gotten on with their lives. Sure I could see some people grieving over lost loved ones but not as many as I would have thought.

The mystery was forgotten as I entered the base and made my way to Lord Danzo's office. I stood outside of it and saw the line of people waiting for him. Resolved to waiting I joined the line and waited for a good hour or so before I got to see Lord Danzo. As soon as I did I thought I knew the reason he had summoned me. Just like Minato his right arm was simply gone but I would not presume anything and simply knelt in front of his desk.

"Shiro, good you are awake. I have a mission for you to consider. It is not set in stone yet as I have not gotten the chance to talk with the Hokage about it but I do believe there is a good chance he will give the go on it." He gestured to an aid who dumped a depressingly large number of folders in front of me. "Konoha must appear strong and the greatest chance to do so is at the Chunin Exams." I didn't react but his words startled me. Regardless he continued on.

"While they are usually closed during war we have been in a cease fire with Kumo for over a year now which has been long enough that the Chunin Exams will continue next year. With that in mind the Chunin Exams will be starting up in a months time and Suna will be hosting them. Your mission will be too select what you deem viable teammates for the exam. You will not merely crush your opposition you will kill any and all challengers that stand before you." My eyes flickered down to the large pile of paper and then back up again the question of why I would be allowed to select my teammates clear.

He answered me. "Being a chunin is being more than just someone who can fight better than a genin. Being one means that genin will look to you for orders on the battlefield and you will be expected to know how to lead them to victory. This is a test to see if you are ready for that responsibility yet. If you this fail then no matter how well you do on the Exams you will not be made a chunin yet." I nod my question answered.

"May I know how long I have until I need to select my teammates? I would also know who the jonin sensei will be?" He answered immediately.

"One week from today I will need an answer and I do not know yet who will be your sensei. I will have to talk it over with the Hokage first. Now before you leave would you do me the favor of healing me?" There it is I thought.

"Of course Lord Danzo. Please remove the bandages so that they don't interfere with the new limb growing." He did so and I performed my skill letting my chakra bring him back to full health. He tested out his new arm and then slowly removed the bandages covering his right eye. Blinking rapidly at the new perspective he chuckled ruefully. "People don't appreciate depth perception until they no longer have it. Thank you Shiro you are dismissed." I made to leave but he stopped me.

"I do not know if you are aware but the funeral for the late Hokage is tomorrow at noon. All noncritical ninja are expected to be there tomorrow. I also need to remind you that those files are not to leave your sight at any time." I nodded then bowed and left, collecting the pile of papers as I went. Returning to the sanctuary of my room I sat down and began to read through all of the genin that I could take on as my teammates.

Several hours were spent hunched over reading before the files before I was interrupted by the sound of the 'door' opening. Only one person visited me here and sure enough I could sense her chakra as she came through the door. I turned towards her fully and greeted her. "Hello Saiko. I'm glad to see that you are well after the attack."

To be honest she didn't look well at all actually. I could see she was dead tired on her feet and her grunt of a reply settled the notion for me. Curiously I watched her walk past me then flop onto my bed where she immediately fell asleep. I felt I should feel indignation at the amount of dried blood she had just spread all over my bed but I couldn't muster the emotion for it. Instead I mentally debated going over and checking her over with my Mystical Palms skill to see if she was alright before I decided against it.

Startling a ninja is never a good idea as the one time it did it with Kushina she nearly put me through a tree on accident. I didn't want to test my luck with Saiko. So giving a shrug at her behavior I went back to reading all of the files. It took the rest of the night but I finished it and separated the files into three piles. The potentials, the undecided and the discarded pile.

One of the discarded pile's folder had contained the file of Nona, the genin whose friend I had killed and who I had dropped off at the Torture and Interrogation building. For several obvious reasons I wanted her nowhere near me while on a mission. To many chances for something to go wrong although I did give her a mental congratulations on surviving her experiences.

Next I went through the undecided pile and pruned it further until there was only a single pile left. This is where it gets difficult. Each person was reviewed further and mentally assigned where they would fit on a team with their current skillset. The pile got progressively smaller and smaller before Saiko's sudden change in breathing alerted me to her waking up.

"Hello again Saiko." I could see her momentarily freeze and then relax.

"Brat, what are you doing in my room?" Putting as much cheer into my voice as possible I responded.

"Actually this is my room sensei. You came in here last night and then collapsed on my bed getting blood everywhere." I put on a thoughtful expression. "Do you think I should charge you to have it cleaned?" A groan was her only response and she shifted upright until she was sitting on the bed.

"What's with the paperwork?" I gave it a distasteful glance before I answered.

"Lord Danzo has tasked me to put together a team of genin to take part in the Chunin Exams held in Suna. I am then expected to brutally kill all the opposition with my new team and win the Exams for Konoha to show our strength." I gave her a shrug in a 'what can you do?' kind of manner. "I feel honored by the trust he is putting in me for this mission and I will carry it out to the best of my ability."

She was oddly silent after that as the implications of what I had just said rattled around in her head. "You're taking the Chunin Exams when you're five years old." Her voice was incredibly flat.

"Technically I'll be six by the time it starts." I said nonchalantly. There was some grumbling before she answered.

"You know what I mean brat." I do know. While my ability to heal remains a tenuous secret for the moment this would put me on every ones radar as a prodigy. I don't know why Lord Danzo was suddenly doing this but I'm sure he had his reasons.

"I know." I simply said and we sat there in silence before I spoke again. "I'm not sure if you heard me or not last night but I'm glad to see that you were unhurt by the Kyuubi attack."

"Thank you. I was out of the village on a mission when it happened so I didn't even know it happened until I got back and saw all the destruction. Although I could feel its chakra even as far away as I was." She stood up from the bed and ruffled my head. "I knew you would be okay though." Stepping away from me she stretched.

"Now I do believe it's time for a funeral. I can't go but I do believe you do so go and get ready for it." Oh, right the funeral. I said my goodbyes to Saiko as she left and gathered all the files onto a scroll so I could seal them. Once that was done I set the scroll back into my inventory and proceeded to get ready. I had a funeral to attend to.

 **Note: I messed up on the chakra amount in the last chapter but I don't know how to change it without deleting the chapter and reposting it.**

 **Age: 5 year - 11 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 19 - 12% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,230/1,230**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 123**

 **END: 110**

 **DEX: 140(154)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 96(101.76)**

 **LCK: 18**

 **Points: 33**

 **Money: 264,239**

 **Instant Dungeon Create (S+ Rank Active(10,000(7,500))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Creates a dungeon that is separated from reality. Stronger monsters and dungeons are available at higher levels.**

 **Possible Dungeons:**

 **Empty**

 **Zombies (not your everyday variety)**


	17. ID Zombies

I picked at the hems of my formal attire. Apparently I had grown a bit from the last time I wore them because they were a size or two too small now. The joys of being a child again I suppose. Letting out a sigh I dropped the hem and gave it up as a lost cause. I'll just have to get new clothes soon which is annoying. I exited the base and noticing the darkening sky I hurried over to Kushina's house. They weren't home so I assumed that they were still in the ANBU base at the moment or they were already at the sight of the funeral. Going with my gut I assumed the latter and went towards the procession.

It was easy enough to find really. All I had to do was follow the crowds of people moving in one direction towards the Hokage Mountain. Getting the hint of where it was I moved above the crowd and got to the base of it in quick order. It seemed like the entire village was here and I could see a raised platform at the base of the mountain with a casket on it.

There was a line of people moving towards the casket and bowing to it before moving to the side to let the next person forward. With a mental shrug I joined the line waiting for my turn to come. It didn't take as long as I thought it would as the line seemed to move at a steady pace and when it was my turn I bowed deeply to the casket. Although I had barely ever seen him I had heard how he had sacrificed his life to defeat the Kyuubi from the surrounding people and for that he had my sincere gratitude.

While I had been standing in line a light drizzle had started falling and it continue even as I made my way to the side of the crowd for the actual ceremony. The line of people paying their respects trickled down until there were only a few of them left and as the last one bowed Minato appeared on stage in the ceremonial Hokage hat with a white robe that had flames along the bottom. The crowd drew silent as he raised his hand.

"People of Konoha. We are gathered here today to pay our respects to a great man. Hiruzen Sarutobi was more than just our Hokage. He was one of the first generations of ninja after the creation of our great Village. He was present for the First Shinobi War and his contributions in the Second lead him to be appointed as the Sandaime Hokage. Under his leadership Konoha finished the Second Shinobi War victorious and with his steady hand we emerged victorious from the Third. Yet that was not for such a man that was named the God of Shinobi. He retired from the office of Hokage to his well-deserved retirement yet when duty called he once more he donned his gear and stood tall. Where others faltered against the Kyuubi's rage he stood as solid as the mountain behind me. Through his actions we were able to drive the Kyuubi into a corner yet when a beast is trapped it is at its most dangerous. The Sandaime Hokage understood this and when the beast lashed out he sprung his trap to destroy the beast once and for all. He succeeded, yet the foul beast's attack brought him low and with his final breath destroyed it."

I could see the eyes of many people around me were watering even as they cried out in joy for his heroic sacrifice. Minato let the cheers go on a little while longer before he motioned them to be silent.

"During the time that the Sandaime spent tutoring me to assume the position of Hokage I found myself struck by how wise he was. How he seemed to always know the answer to everything and in that time I came to view him as a father. For that was what the Sandaime was in the end, a father to us all. I can only hope that we can begin to emulate the sheer courage he had against seemingly impossible odds. I can only hope that we can be half as wise as he had been. I can only hope to one day live up to the legacy that he left behind him. I can only hope because of his sacrifice and I want you to carry the hope he gave us to build Konoha to be stronger than ever so that this tragedy will never be repeated."

He paused for a moment as though to collect himself. "I would like you all to savor that hope and pay our final respects to a man that has given us so much." He turned around to face the casket and bowed deeply. "Thank you Sandaime Hokage. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten." The entire crowd bowed deeply and repeated Minato's words as they did so. We held our bow until Minato straightened and turned to address us once more.

"The casket will be here until tomorrow for those who wish to pay their additional respects to the Sandaime Hokage. I wish you all my heartfelt thanks for showing up to pay your respects to such a great man. Thank you everyone." He gave us a bow and when he straightened he disappeared to resume his duties. The crowd began to break up after he left and I lingered for a while before I also left for my duties. It didn't take long to get back to base and as soon as I got back to my room I changed out of my formal attire to my regular clothes.

Pulling out the scroll in my inventory I released all of the folders and got back to work creating a team. It took several more hours before I was satisfied with it and shoved everything back into the scroll. Stretching because it felt nice to do so I stood and debated returning to Lord Danzo with the results of my choice or going to see if Itachi and his family survived. Kushina also wanted to talk with me as well I mused. I mentally debated before I decided to visit Itachi. After all I had more than 6 days left to inform him of my choice and I had an inkling that Kushina was still at the ANBU base.

Decision made I left the base and made my way to Itachi's home. The gate guards to the Uchiha gate were more alert than I remembered but they waved me through all the same. From there it was a short walk to Itachi's house and even though I couldn't feel his chakra in the house but I knocked on the door anyways. The door opened to reveal Mikoto holding Sasuke.

"Hello Mikoto. I haven't seen you since the attack and I wanted to stop by to see if everyone is all right?"

"Oh, Shiro how thoughtful of you. Yes everyone is quite alright but Itachi isn't here right now. I think he's out in the village on clean up duty." She looked me up and down. "You seem alright but do you know anything about Kushina at all? I haven't been able to get a hold of her and Minato was too busy to simply ask."

I grimaced slightly. I didn't like being the bearer of bad news at all. "Kushina, Mito and Karin are all fine at this point in time. I'm also pretty sure that Kushina's newborn baby didn't survive the attack." She clutched Sasuke closer to her.

"How are you pretty sure and not positive?"

"I was only able to see them for a moment before duty called me away and Kushina seemed to be grieving when I did see her."

"Oh dear. I'll have to give her my condolences the next time I see her then or would you be able to since you can actually go see her?" I considered it for a moment before I spoke.

"I'll try to do so but I'm not sure when the next time I'll see her again will be." She gave me a small sad smile.

"That's fine but you want to come in at all? I could make you some tea if you like?" A glance up at the sun saw it settling ever closer to the horizon.

"No thank you. I merely came to confirm that you were all fine and I should really return to my duties now."

"Alright then. Have a good rest of the day then."

"You as well." I gave a slight bow and left. Now where to go next I mused. A quick swing by Kushina's house revealed it to be empty so I swung by the missions office at the Hokage's tower. They were more than happy to assign me to clean up duty and I was left moving rubble around with chakra strings until the sun finally set and I went back to base for a night of training.

When morning dawned I performed Angel's Breath on two people and after recovering made my way over to Lord Danzo's office because I literally had nothing else to do. There was still a line outside of it but it was shorter than it was yesterday and I joined it silently. After a long wait I was able to enter his office and knelt before his desk after taking the scroll contain the genin records out of my inventory and setting it before me.

"Lord Danzo, I have finished sorting through the files and have chosen my two teammates for the Chunin Exams." He leaned back in his chair to regard me.

"I see. Explain to me who you chose and why."

I nodded and began to speak. "Hina Hyuga, age 10, expert taijutsu specialist and tracker. She has been a genin for 3 years and she will provide the close ranged options for the team as well as providing a secondary layer of detection along with my Sensor ability." He hummed at that and motioned me to continue.

"Shisui Uchiha, age 9, has evolved his clan's doujutsu to the third level and has shown a remarkable proficiency in the body flicker technique as well as genjutsu. He has only been a genin for two years but I believe his evolved sharingan will make up for that. He will be our genjutsu and ninjutsu component." I paused for a moment and then continued.

"With myself as the ninjutsu specialist and medic I believe we have all the requirements for a Heavy Combat Team that will do well both in the Exams and outside of them as well if necessary. I also believe you wanted to make a statement about the strength of Konoha so I also chose these two based on their young age. It will make our enemies think twice if they believe Konoha has a new sannin forming."

He seemed amused by that. "You think you can compete with the sannin?"

"I don't have to. We merely need to make people see the connection and let them assume." He turned thoughtful at that.

"You mean to have one of them be your sensei for the Exam." It wasn't a question but a statement of fact.

"It would show us as powerful when we first enter the Exams and once we dominate the Exam it will cement it in our enemy's eyes." There was a moment of silence before I spoke again. "If we do have one of the sannin as our sensei I would request that it is not Orochimaru. I did not have a good first impression of him."

"Yes he does give off quite a creepy vibe. I do believe he practiced it extensively." His fingers beat a steady thump on his desk. "You have done well choosing your teammates and I approve along with your idea of one of the sannin as your sensei. Expect the mission to be approved after I consult with the Hokage within the next few days. Until then you are free to train and help reconstruct the village. Dismissed." I gave a bow and left the office.

With nothing else to do I returned to the mission office and was directed to more repair work around the village. That took up most of the day and after I was done I swung by Kushina's house but they were still not there. Feeling a bit irritated by that before calm replaced it I went back to train in my room for the rest of the day and into the night.

By the time it was morning a summons had come for me to go to the Hokage's tower. I went there as quickly as I could and the secretary sitting before the office waved me through. As I entered I could see Minato sitting at a desk while Jiraiya stood next to him. I knelt before his desk.

"Lord Hokage, Lord Jiraiya, you called for me." I heard Minato let out a sigh.

"Shiro, you really don't need to be all formal when it's just us you know."

"I realize that but this is one of the few moments where it is necessary." I saw him rub his forehead.

"Right, putting that to the side for now." He turned serious. "Danzo has informed me of his plan for the Chunin Exams and while I do not like it I do believe it to be necessary for Konoha to put on a show of strength." He paused and a look of concern appeared on his face. "That said if you do not feel comfortable handling this mission just say the word and someone else will handle it."

I know it wasn't a jab at my competence or anything like that but the words both hurt and made me glad that someone cared enough about me to say them. "While I do enjoy the fact that you care for me I am a shinobi of the Leaf and I will do my duty to the village." I looked him in the eye as I said this to make my point as clear as possible. He got it and slumped slightly before straightening again.

"Alright. I do have this for you though." He pulled out a tri pronged kunai. "This will allow me to teleport to your side if you throw the kunai into the ground. I care more about you being safe than the Chunin Exams so if you need me to come I will." He lightly tossed it to me and I caught it then tucked it into one of the seals on the inside of me sleeve.

"Thank you for this." He gave me a nod and then continued.

"Now I have a slight modification to your orders for the Exam. Suna has been our longtime ally and slaughtering their genin during the Exam could be seen as a betrayal so try to avoid killing them if at all possible but know that your life is more important than my order in this regard." I nod and he continues.

"Your idea to use one of the sannin as a sensei has been approved and Ero sensei-"

"Oi." He kept going like nothing happened.

"Has been chosen as your sensei for the duration of the Exams. Unfortunately both of your teammates are not in the village at this time but recall orders have been sent out and they should arrive here within 2 days at the maximum. Until then you said you had a new technique?"

"Yes. It seems like it would take me somewhere but I don't quite know where." Both Jiraiya's and Minato's brow furrowed.

"You mean like it teleports you somewhere?" I made a so-so gesture.

"I don't quite know. I don't think I move from where I'm standing but I'm somewhere else when I arrive yet still standing in the same location." I blinked. Huh, that was a brain teaser. Both of them look equally confused.

Jiraiya spoke up. "That doesn't make any sense at all." I shrug helplessly. "Can you take other people along with you?" I thought about it for a moment.

"I think I could but they would have to be touching me." Jiraiya looked over to Minato who nodded.

"Take two ANBU with you and go test it out. I would go see it but I have work to do right now. Report back when you're done." Two ANBU wearing a Tiger mask and a Mouse mask appeared next to me.

"Right let's go to training ground three then." Jiraiya opened the window and jumped out of it. I, along with the two ANBU, followed after him and I could hear Minato start to mutter as a breeze made his papers fly around. It didn't take long to get to the training ground and when we did Jiraiya turned to me.

"Could you explain what the technique does or what effect it will have when you use it?"

"Not really I just know that there seems to be two variants of it where one is completely safe and the other could be dangerous." His eyes sharpen at that. I could try to explain how ID creates a separate reality that is layered on top of this one but uniquely non interactive with each other but it was a little too complicated to explain.

"Dangerous how?"

"Dangerous in what we could actually find there and not the actual technique."

He hummed at that and then started making hand signs. With a cry of "Summoning Jutsu," and a cloud of smoke two familiar toads appeared. "Oh, what's up this time Jiraiya? Are you in trouble with the ladies again?" Pa's voice came from the smoke.

"Don't be silly Pa can't you feel the boy's chakra."

"You're right Ma. I wonder if he has another technique. Oh, I'm so excited." Ma and Pa jumped up to Jiraiya's shoulders.

"Hey I'm never in trouble with the ladies and yes it is a new technique. Considering his last one I wanted both of you out here to see it." He turned back to me. "Let's go the safe one first." I felt the hands of Tiger and Mouse settle on my shoulders as Jiriaya's hand landed on my head. "Whenever you're ready."

Alright then. I raised my arm to the sky and with a cry of "ID Create: Empty" the world shattered around us. When I say shattered I meant shattered. Cracks formed along the ground, the trees and even the sky before they broke apart in a dazzling display of light creating a kaleidoscope of color. As quickly as it started the pieces of the reality reformed once more to look exactly as it was before I started the technique yet something was different.

I felt one of the hands release my shoulder and the sound of retching came from behind me. Mouse was bent over with a portion of her mask open to allow her to retch into a nearby bush. I looked back over to Jiraiya and he didn't seem to be doing much better either. I couldn't see Ma or Pa anywhere around and a quick glance at Tiger worried me. He wasn't moving or reacting at all and his hand on my shoulder was limp.

"Tiger are you alright?" My voice seemed to startle both of Jiraiya and Mouse into alertness. Slipping out of his grasp I watched his hand fall to his side. Mouse was next to him in an instant hands glowing green. She made a tsking noise and knocked him unconscious before gently laying him down on the ground before focusing on his head.

"What the hell happened to him? I thought you said this technique was safe." Jiraiya's tone was accusatory yet not raised.

Mouse cut him off before he could get more steam going though. "It wasn't his fault. Tiger was selected to record the jutsu with the sharingan and was using it during the transit. He experienced multiple brain aneurysms and I had to knock him out because he was still channeling chakra to his eyes."

"Is he going to be okay?" I timidly asked. I wouldn't have let anyone know about this if it cost somebody their life just to test it. Mouse didn't turn away from Tiger but nodded none the less.

"I've already started to reduce the swelling and once I'm done he should wake up within half an hour or so." My shoulders slumped in relief. That's good then.

There was a grunt from Jiraiya as he looked around. "What did that technique do anyways? We're still in the same spot…" His voice trailed off. "Where are Ma and Pa? Actually better question why is it so quiet?" Now that he mentioned it I noticed it as well. Even Mouse stopped her healing momentarily to look around.

There were no sounds at all. No birds chirping in the trees, no voices in the distance and not even the whisper of the wind as it flowed through the trees. It was almost eerie. I heard Jiraiya perform his summoning jutsu again but there was no smoke. He looked puzzled by the fact before we both noticed a growing tear in reality where he had placed his hands. Giving a warning to Mouse we all jumped away from the tear. It grew to the size of a man and then spat out two familiar toads before quickly sealing itself.

"Argh, what was that? It felt like I went ten rounds with the great Toad Sage." Pa complained as he sat up from where he fell. Jiraiya was immediately next to them checking them over.

"I'm so sorry I had no idea that summoning you would do that." He fused over them but Pa seemed to pay no attention to him at all as he stared at his surroundings.

"Ma, can you sense that?"

"Of course I can. I'm old not senile. How curious though, I can't sense anything beyond 5kms anyway. It's just like everything ceases to exist beyond that point." Interested in hearing more I moved closer and Ma sucked in a breath. "The edges just moved and things were just created out of nothing." Her eyes darted over to me. Pa looked over as well.

"I see he's the focal point and as he moves things are created or destroyed if they are a certain distance away." Jiraiya glanced over at me then back at Ma and Pa.

"What do you think happens if we were to move to the edge and Shiro moved away from us?"

"I wouldn't know but I don't recommend it." Pa gave a grunt of pain. "Wherever you are I would recommend that you don't stay long. I can feel it actively rejecting us. I would say that you shouldn't stay here for more than an hour at most. Ma and I will take our leave." Once more there was a tear in reality instead of a puff of smoke but they seemed confident in their decision and jumped right through.

As they left Jiraiya turned to me and Mouse. "Alright, we'll leave in 45 minutes regardless of whether or not Tiger has woken up by then." After saying that he created several shadow clones which raced of in different directions. With nothing else to do I sat down and began to meditate to recover my chakra. That didn't take very long to do but with nothing else to do at the moment I just continued meditating.

I was broken from my state when I heard a soft groan of pain from the prone Tiger. The groan became movement as his arms slowly lifted and clutched at his head. "What happened? Did I go out drinking with you again Mouse?"

She let out a snort at that. "No, you had multiple brain aneurysms trying to record Shiro's jutsu with your sharingan. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember putting my hand on his shoulder and then nothing. Which is impossible as the sharingan gives me perfect memory recall when I use it."

"Multiple brain aneurysms." Mouse deadpanned as Tiger struggled into an upright position.

"Right. Where are we?"

"Apparently we're in a bubble of reality that leads to an edge of nothing. I looked over the edge with a shadow clone and it's just a void of darkness beyond it. I jumped off the edge next and got 10 minutes of falling farther away from the sphere into nothing." Jiraiya spoke up next to them. "Could have done without those memories to be honest." The last part was muttered but I could still hear him with the absolute silence surrounding us.

"Ma and Pa were right about this place rejecting us though. I can feel a constant pull at the back of my mind and its getting distracting." Really? I don't feel any different than normal.

"I don't have that feeling at all." I spoke up.

He glanced at me. "Probably because you're the one who's using it. I also went through the village and it was like people just up and left right during a meal. Some of the food was still warm but all of the scroll I checked were empty unless they were open before I got there." He turned to Tiger. "Can you move right now?"

"Yes." He gamely got to his feet with only a slight sway. Jiraiya eyed him critically and then nodded.

"Good, I want to test one more thing before we leave this place. Follow me to the Hokage Mountain." We left the clearing slower than usual for Tiger but we still got to the top of the Mountain quickly. Once we got to the top Jiraiya spoke again.

"Alright take us out of here Shiro."

"Everyone grab hold then." They did and I raised my hand as the world once more shattered around us then reformed once more. The sound of gagging came from behind me as Tiger dropped to the ground holding his stomach.

"Oh you big baby it wasn't that bad." Mouse stood over him her hands once more glowing green. 'Wow what a hypocrite' I thought as I could feel Tiger's glare through his mask. Jiraiya starting to talk brought my attention back to him.

"I see what you mean when you said you moved yet didn't move when you performed your technique now." A casual glance to the left and I could see the entire village laid out before me. There were still scars from the Kyuubi attack but they seemed to be growing smaller daily. "You have another version where you think it's more dangerous right?"

"I do." He hummed and glanced at Tiger and Mouse.

"If we let you do the other one I want at least a full squad of ANBU to go with us. The one you deemed 'safe' wasn't all that safe for anyone but you. Wait here and recover your chakra while I go get a squad from Minato." Shit, I don't want to enter a zombie dungeon at the top of the Hokage Mountain that just screams boss battle to me.

"Ah, is it okay if we enter somewhere else?" His head whipped around to stare at me eyes narrowed.

"Why?" I shuffle at little under his gaze.

"It just feels like a bad idea for me to do it here." He scrutinized me for a while before slowly nodding.

"Alright, it's your jutsu." I nodded thankfully and sat down to meditate. When I was done meditating I was greeted with the sight of four ANBU wearing a Hound, Frog, Raven and Rabbit mask respectively. Jiraiya spoke up from behind me.

"Okay let's get going to training ground three then." I stood up and we all flickered over to the training ground. "Now if any of you have the sharingan I advise you to not use it during transit because the last one that did so suffered multiple brain aneurysms doing so. The transit is also very jarring and you will probably feel the need to vomit afterwards but try to resist. We don't know what's on the other side right now. Any questions?" There were none and he pulled out a large piece of rope.

"Everyone grab hold of this and don't let go." They all did so and then he handed it to me. "Take us away." My hand was raised and once more the world shattered yet instead of reforming normally it twisted into a mockery of reality. The sky turned blood red and a full moon hung impossibly large overhead. My highly sensitive senses could pick up the smell of rot and the sounds of moans in the distance as well as one ANBU who couldn't hang onto their meal.

I heard a few mutters of 'Kai' behind me as they took in our new surroundings. Ignoring them for now I activated my chakra sense to get a better feel for my surroundings and couldn't help but frown at what I felt. I could feel the zombies and they just felt wrong to my senses like they didn't belong. The voice of one of the ANBU brought me out of my trance.

"Contact right." A shambling corpse walked out from behind a tree and as soon as it saw us let out the most awful wail I have ever heard. More than one person clapped their hands over their ears until a thrown kunai lodged into its chest. It rocked backwards and seemed to stare dumbly at the kunai impaling where its heart would be before it resumed its wail.

My thrown kunai hit its head and it collapsed dead once more before its body began to dissolve into motes of light. I ignored it as I could feel more coming closer. "Lord Jiraiya I can sense 10 contacts closing in at genin speed with more behind them. What are your orders?" I ignored the ding as the zombie fully disappeared and focused on Jiraiya. He looked between me and where the body once was several times before making a decision.

"We can only leave if we're touching you or the rope, correct?" I nodded in confirmation. "Then we're leaving. We have no information on the contacts and no reason to fight. We can come back at a later point but for now take us out of here." I was quietly disappointed in his decision but knew it was the correct one as I felt more and more contacts speeding towards up. The last thing I saw before we left were several large fireballs heading towards us as the world shattered.

Quickly looking behind me I saw that everyone was with me and no one was left behind. Jiraiya turned to the ANBU and dismissed them then turned to me. "I can't even begin to make sense of what just happened. That thing was obviously dead before you killed it again and then it just broke into pieces of light after it died. I just… just leave. I'll go talk to Minato about what just happened and maybe we will mount an expedition later but for now don't go back there. The entire place felt wrong to me and that's not mentioning the dead people shooting fireballs at you." He flickered out of the clearing leaving me alone.

Silently I looked at the notification that had popped up that I had ignored.

 **Ding! Gained 2xp, 5ryo**

Humming in thought I made my way back to base. We could have fought and probably won in the end. Of course if I was alone I would have done hit and run tactics to keep the swarm that was running at us from forming. I frowned momentarily at the memory of the fireball and the zombie that it had come from. I could clearly see it forming hand signs for the fireball technique and it was moving at a genin's speed so the zombie ID had ninja zombies. Which was good and bad I suppose. It would be good experience to fight against other ninja, whatever their state, and bad because there might be a Hokage level ninja lurking around somewhere. My feet led me back to my room even as my thoughts ran wild and I retired for the day to continue training.

 **Age: 5 year - 11 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 19 - 12% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,230/1,230**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 123**

 **END: 110**

 **DEX: 140(154)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 96(101.76)**

 **LCK: 18**

 **Points: 33**

 **Money: 264,244**


	18. Hina Hyuga

**Author's Note: A lot of people have been asking about the Observe ability and I will say this now. I don't think I'm going to give it to him simply for the fact that doing so interrupts the story when he inevitably uses it on someone and you get to read a wall of stats and backstory about random characters. Plus I'm way too lazy to make up everyone else's stats as well even if I included others under the Gamer's power which I won't. Shiro is the only person with that power and there will be no parties or sharing of that power to train people up. I literally stayed up all night to write this so enjoy.**

~Interlude~ Minato

I swore as Ero sensei opened the window and sent a small gust of wind chakra in as he left, scattering the papers everywhere. 'And I just got them organized as well.' I motioned my loyal slaves- I mean minions- no I meant helpful servants? Shrugging off the odd tangent my brain took me on I had the ANBU stationed in the room to help tidy up and got back to work.

About an hour later Jiraiya reentered my office and I looked up to berate him for sending my paperwork flying everywhere but stopped as soon as I saw his face. I've seen that face made before. Hell, I've made it several times as well. Shiro is being impossible again I just know it.

"So how's the new technique working out?" I inquired politely.

He gave me a sour look. "You knew something like this was going to happen didn't you. That's the real reason you didn't come with us isn't it?" I winced internally but kept my cool.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I gestured to the mounds of papers. "As you can see I am quite busy at the moment what with being the Hokage and all that." He made a dismissive gesture and plopped down in one of the chairs with a sigh.

"I need another squad of ANBU. Shiro's supposedly safe version of his jutsu gave Tiger multiple brain aneurysms when he tried to copy it with the sharingan." What? The ultimate copycat eyes of the Uchiha have been defeated?

"Is he okay?"

"He was puking out his guts the last time I saw him but other than that he seemed fine. The trip is a bitch and a half to go through though. I nearly vomited as well each time." He shook himself and stood up. "I'll fill you in on all the details later. I need to get back soon."

I gave him a nod. "Alright, pull back if you need to. There's no need to get yourself killed testing out a jutsu." Giving me a lazy wave he hopped back out of the window to go recruit an ANBU squad and I tried to go back to my work but worry slowed me down.

The next time he hopped back into the window he just looked unsettled. "How you're able to stay around that kid without breaking down is amazing. How do you do it?" I wordlessly reached down and pulled out an expensive bottle of sake.

"Hehe, yeah that'd do it." He opened the bottle as I reached back down for two glasses.

"So why don't you start from the beginning then?" Pouring the sake into both cups and then taking a big sip he began.

"Right. So first off his 'safe' portion of his technique creates a reflection of reality of about 5kms all around him. As he moves through the land the bubble follows him and creates new things in front of him while the old portions are destroyed. The bubble is just surrounded by nothing and I had a clone jump off the edge. It just fell and fell until even the light coming from the bubble faded away until there was only blackness." He took a large sip and refilled the glass.

"What do you mean by a reflection of reality?"

"Just that. I found things laying around like warm meals, opened scrolls and books that I could interact with. Anything that was unopened was simply blank but it was right where I found it when I returned. That's another thing. His jutsu allows him to leave and enter where ever he is standing at the moment." I simply blinked at that.

"Are you telling me I could send a hit squad with him and assassinate anyone by just having Shiro walk past all the guards?"

"No, probably not. Everyone besides Shiro experienced a pulling sensation after staying in his jutsu for a small amount for time and his mode of switching between realities leaves you reeling for a good five or six seconds. Pa told me not to stay in it for more than an hour and after 45 minutes I was experiencing a mild discomfort just standing." He takes another sip.

"Then there's the problem that everyone needs to be touching Shiro to leave or enter his reality. I left a shadow clone with orders to pop when we exited the first and I haven't gotten any memories or chakra back. It's simply gone and I don't know where it is." Filling the glass and draining it he continued.

"Finally you have his 'dangerous' portion of his technique. The entire dimension looked like it was out of a horror genjutsu and there were things there." The last part was strained and he refilled his glass.

"Things?"

"Dead people." He said simply. "Almost as soon as we arrived this thing walks out of the woods missing an arm and most of its face. It saw us and let out the most horrible wail I've ever heard in my life." Draining that glass as well he poured another.

"Then the damn thing took a kunai to the heart and just shrugged it off. Shiro ended up killing it with a kunai to the head and then it just up and disappeared into little moots of light."

He gestures wildly. "So I'm standing there trying to wrap my head around what just happened when he pipes up about 10 more of these things closing in on us at genin speeds and sure enough I could feel them approaching." He eyes the glass and the bottle before grabbing the bottle and drinking from it.

"Right behind them were another 20 or so and I made the decision to get the fuck out of there because it felt like there was a wave of death heading right for us. As soon as I said it I could see disappointment in Shiro's eyes like it would have been the most natural thing in the world for him to go fight 30 reanimated dead ninja in a hell dimension." He gave the bottle a good shake and scowled. "Do you have another?" I pulled out another and handed it to him.

Giving me a cheeky grin he started drinking straight from that one as well. "I'm off to go find Tsunade. She's always up for a drink and this is the good stuff right here." He dashed out the window before I could say anything.

"Oi." I knew it was pointless but the fucker stole my Shiro drinking stash. By the time I got to the window to look out he was long gone. With a sigh I sat back down and eyed my still full cup. Shrugging I drank the whole thing and put the glasses away. Time to get back to it I suppose.

The sun had set by the time I left the office and teleported back to the ANBU base Kushina, Mito and Karin were staying at. They would stay there until I killed the bastard that attacked us or either Kushina or myself could come up with a barrier that stopped space-time ninjutsu. Kushina said she was making progress on it and I could feel a smile grow on my face when I saw both Mito and Karin sleeping.

Kushina looked up from her seal work as I arrived and smiled at me. I could see that her eyes were a little red from crying but I didn't mention it right away. "Minato!" Her cheerful demeanor vanished as she caught sight of me. "What did Shiro do this time?" I do so love that she can read me like a book.

"Well this time he got Ero sensei…"

~Interlude End~

My thoughts were still scrambled by the time the sun had risen over the horizon. All throughout the night I had wanted to go back into the dungeon and I guess just go wild really. The chance to be free of all the scrutiny from the past four years was a tempting fruit that hung just overhead. All I had to do was raise my hand and I could be free for a little while.

It almost proved to be too tempting but in the end I resisted. A few hours of freedom wasn't worth the potential consequences of my actions when I returned. I let out a wistful sigh as I hopped over the roof tops towards training field three. Hina Hyuga had returned to Konoha yesterday night and I was to meet her there to begin the process of turning us into a team.

I could feel someone's chakra in the clearing and I stopped just outside of it to mold my body to the tree and just observe my teammate. She was about 140cm tall(55 inches) and had black silky hair that was currently in a tight bun on the back of her head. I approved of that. Long hair was almost a status symbol for kunoichi as it meant you were skilled enough to protect it or you were a fresh genin that didn't know better.

She was wearing a cream colored jacket with her head band tied around her waist leaving her forehead bare. I idly noted that the lack of a seal on her forehead meant that she must be part of the main house. Rather brazen of her for simply giving that information away but if it got to the point where people were scooping out her eyes she'd probably be dead already. The rest of her outfit was a simple pair of blue pants and open toed sandals not to mention the iconic lavender eyes that contained no visible pupils.

"Are you going to come out or just hide up there in the tree all day long?" Hina's slightly haughty voice drifted up to me. How did she… Ah, I saw the slight bulging of the blood vessels next to her eyes. Apparently she was checking me out at the same time. I jumped down to stand in front of her.

"What gave me away?" A thought came to me and my head tilted slightly. "Or was that just a random scan of your surroundings?" She tried to maintain her superior attitude but I saw the slight flush of color in her cheeks.

"Hmph, I heard you coming of course." Bullshit, I make less noise than a leaf hitting the ground when I move nowadays. It was totally a random sweep. I noticed she still had her byakugan going as she looked at me.

"Has anyone ever told you that your chakra is very structured? It's almost like you have full control of it." 'I do' I thought, my mind flashing to my mastered chakra manipulation. A wicked thought came to me and I nearly grinned. Crossing my hands over my chest I turned slightly away from her.

"You're one of those people aren't you?" I saw confusion in her eyes.

"What? One of what?" Nodding my head decisively I continued on.

"Yep, my sensei warned me about people like you. She said to look out for people who try to see you without your clothes on because they're perverts."

"What!? I am not a PERVERT!" Her haughty attitude was completely gone as she screamed at me her entire face red as a tomato.

"She said that all of them say that but they're just lying to try to see me naked and you're using your eyes to see my chakra which is under my clothes so that makes you a pervert." There was an inarticulate gurgle of rage coming from her before I saw her visibly take a deep breath and center herself.

"A Hyuga would never lower themselves to such pastimes." I almost snorted at that. You have eyes that can see for kilometers all around them and they can see through things. What's next are you going to tell me water is red and grass is blue?

"Then why are your eyes still active?" She blinked heavily at that but kept them active.

"Because this might be a trap and you're the distraction." I mentally applauded her but that was still a little extreme when she was right next to Konoha. Instead I let out a heavy sigh.

"Sure." I drawled then let out another sigh. "Pray for me sensei. I'm stuck on a team with a pervert." Her cheeks colored again but she was able to maintain her haughty posture.

"We're on a team now?" This time I was the one to blink heavily.

"Did they not tell you why you were sent out here?" Shifting minutely she shook her head. Joy, I get to explain everything then. Where's Jiraiya anyways?

"Both of us and one other were selected to participate in the Chunin Exams that are taking place one month from now. We are expected to dominate the entire Exam and show off Konoha's strength." Her posture changed to disbelief.

"How old are you anyways?"

"Almost 6 years old." Her skeptical look grew even more pronounced.

"And how long have you been a shinobi?"

"Almost 3 years now." She actually snorted at that.

"And I'm sure you went on soooo many high ranked missions during that time." I thought back. Recently I hadn't gone on a C rank mission for almost half a year. It was all B to A rank recently excluding the time I sorted rubble.

"Classified." Letting out a laugh she glanced around as though expecting something. When nothing happened she turned back to me.

"Sure you did. So how did you get those shinobi to tell me to go here?" I stared at her blankly. 'Did I choose wrong? No, she's still a child really and thinking back it does sound ridiculous.'

"How would I get you to believe me?" I cut right to the chase. I have better things to do than try to convince a 10 year old girl that she is wrong. A dismissive wave was given to me.

"Oh, I don't know maybe get Lord Hokage involved." I shrugged and turned around.

"Alright then follow me." My statement startled her.

"Wait where are you going?" I turned back to look at her.

"To the Hokage of course. Our sensei should have been here and as you have not been informed of the nature of our mission it is best to get it from the source." Her blank gaze met mine as she stared at me.

"You're crazy, you can't just go see the Hokage. Just admit this was a joke."

"This is not a joke and you can either follow me to the Hokage or let your career as a kunoichi end here." She seemed less sure of herself now but a stubborn part of her still clung to her idea. "I'm going to leave now. You can either follow me to the Hokage or I'll go to him and request a new teammate. It doesn't matter to me which it is."

I turned and left the clearing and Hina behind. Shortly afterwards I felt her run to catch up and I slowed slightly to allow her. "If this is a joke I'll close all your tenketsu."

"You can try." I drolly stated. As we got closer to the Hokage's tower her objections got louder and louder. It was kind of annoying really.

"Really this is taking it too far. Disturbing the Hokage for nothing but a joke is a serious offense especially after what just happened. He must be really busy." I ignored her and just went inside to the 'secretary' outside the Hokage's office.

"Shiro, no name, and Hina Hyuga requesting an audience in regards to a mission's parameters." While I was talking I was making hand signs at her.

She glanced down at a schedule and ran her finger down it. "I have an open slot in ten minutes if that works for you?"

"Perfect, thank you."

"Refreshments are to your right if you need anything." I gave her a bow and went to get some tea. Might as well if it's free. I got a cup of hot green tea and sipped at it as Hina got more and more nervous next to me. Our names were called just as I finished my cup and I gave it back to the people at the refreshment stand.

Right before we walked in Hina whispered to me, "This isn't a joke is it."

"No." I walked in to see Minato surrounded by paperwork as per usual just as I knelt in front of his desk as usual.

"Shiro, and you must be Hina. What are you doing here?" As he talked to us he was rubbing his wrist. It must suck having to go through all those papers.

"Lord Hokage, Hina was not explained the nature of our mission and as Lord Jiraiya was not at the meeting place I decided the quickest way to resolve this was to speak with you."

"Jiraiya wasn't there?" I shake my head and an ANBU appeared to whisper something into his ear. As soon as they were done they vanished leaving Minato rubbing his head. "Damn it Ero sensei." He muttered before giving us his full attention. "What do you need explained?"

I gave a shrug. "All of it." He nodded at that and turned to Hina.

"You were selected along with Shiro and Shisui Uchiha to participate in the Chunin Exams and show Konoha's dominance when such a young team of genin stomps all over everyone else's. Jiraiya of the sannin is going to be your sensei but he's a little tied up at the moment." He coughed briefly at that but continued. "This mission came straight from me and I'll have to find out why you were not informed of it later." His eyes narrowed at that and he began to tap on his desk.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see a bead of sweat roll down Hina's face. She probably realized how close she came to ignoring a mission from the Hokage even if she didn't know it at the time. I wasn't kidding when I said it was a career ending move even if she didn't know the full nature of it.

"Of course Lord Hokage. I am honored you would select me for such a mission."

"I didn't. Shiro did and I merely approved of it. He will be the leader of your team for the duration of the Exams." Another bead of sweat joined the first.

"I-I see."

"If that is all I need to return to my work now."

I gave a bow. "Of course Lord Hokage." I retreated from the room with Hina close on my heels. She was silent until we exited the building before rounding on me.

"Why didn't you do more to convince me about the mission before I was made a fool of in front of the Hokage?" Being glared at by pupil less lavender eyes didn't even faze me after seeing Kushina's beast mode or Saiko's cold fury.

"Your anger is misplaced and everything I told you was the truth yet you simply didn't believe it. Time is precious and I would not waste it trying to argue with you to convince you of my sincerity. The Hokage did not take you for a fool and I don't either. In addition, when you told me you were not informed of your mission I had to take it to the Hokage anyways." I paused for a moment. "What I told you before beggar's belief so let's start over now shall we?"

Giving her a bow I spoke. "Hello my name is Shiro and I shall be your leader and teammate for the near future. It is a pleasure to meet you." I could see the war between anger and the ingrained habits drilled into her by her clan fight before the latter emerged victorious.

She gave me a light bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you Shiro. My name is Hina Hyuga and you may call me Hina since we will be teammates."

I gave her a slight smile. "Great, now should we go get something to eat and we can get to know each other better?" She gave a slight nod so I continued. "Then let's go to this place called Ichiraku. It has wonderful ramen." As soon as I said that I wanted to slap my forehead. I prank people and eat nothing but ramen it's like Kushina's habits are infecting me.

Her nose wrinkled at that. "I suppose it will do." Turning away and rolling my eyes at her princess attitude I led her over the rooftops to the restaurant. Miraculously the shop itself was untouched and I walked under the flaps.

"Hello Teuchi, I'm sorry I haven't visited yet. There was lots of things that kept me from coming." I caught sight of him and while his smile was still on his face his heart didn't seem to be in it. Oh no, who died?

"Oh, Shiro, it's good to see you. I haven't seen you in days and I was thinking the worst. Do you know where my favorite customer is? I haven't seen her either."

"She and the girls are fine but they can't come right now. Is everything all right with you?" I sat down on one of the stools and Hina sat next to me. His face formed a mask of grief.

"My wife lost her life in the attack and now it's just me and my daughter Ayame. I can't afford to take the time off right now so here I am."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." He visibly pulled himself together and turned to Hina.

"So who's this? Your girlfriend?" I could see her building up a storm but before she could talk I interjected.

"Nope. She's just a pervert that keeps on looking under my clothes and now she's following me around."

"What!? No that's not-" I leaned in as though to whisper something but ended almost shouting to be overheard.

"She says I'm very structured."

"-that is taken out of context." She suddenly halts and I could almost see the lightbulb go off over her head. "You, you're doing this on purpose aren't you? You're acting just like my sensei did when he was testing me." Ah, ruin my fun why don't you.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Everything I've said is true." My picture of innocence doesn't seem to affect her and Teuchi's laughter didn't seem to help.

"If you're not going to take this seriously then I'm leaving." She made to rise from her stool but my hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Stay." It was command and not a request. She reluctantly sat back down. "I was seeing how you'd react to different stimuli but I'll stop for now. Would you like something to eat before we begin?" I released her shoulder to turn to Teuchi. "I'll have a Miso Ramen please."

Teuchi's eyes darted between us but he nodded pleasantly. "Coming right up, and for you Miss Hina." Her eyes glanced from me to the menu before she answered.

"A bowl of your Pork Ramen please." He nodded and turned away from us.

"Alright then, let's start with the classics shall we? What do you like? What are your hobbies? What are your dreams? I'll even go first. I like training, my mother, my sisters and my sensei. My hobbies are learning new techniques and growing stronger. My dream is to travel." Vague, yet specific, and partial truths. Let's see how she does.

Hina eyed me before she began. "I like learning my clan's arts, my mother, my father and my clan. My hobbies are painting and creating flower arrangements. I dream of becoming a famous kunoichi like Tsunade." Eh, she seemed like a drunk to me but you know what they say about appearances and all. I nod none the less and continue.

"Interesting. Now you were picked because of your clan's dojutsu and your relative experience in taijutsu making you the close quarters specialist and tracker of our team." The ramen arrived and I dug in. "The third member, Shisui Uchiha, was chosen for his genjutsu specialty and back up ninjutsu." I finished the bowl and motioned for another. God her habits have infected me. I don't even need to eat this.

"I was selected for my ninjutsu specialty along with my iryojutsu."

"You know medical jutsu?" I nod as I ate my second bowl.

"I can heal up to broken bones and major cuts right now." Ignoring the coughing of the surrounding people I kept eating.

"What about ninjutsu?"

"I know three different elements with techniques ranging from F to A rank in all of them but one which I only know up to B rank." I once more ignored the sudden fit then silence that had descended around me. Being able to never sleep left me with a ton of time to think and I had been able to parcel out why Lord Danzo was being so public with me after all these years.

Yes, I was apprenticed to Kushina but that was more of a display that made me visible to the shinobi of the village or at least it was until I displayed my healing technique and Minato became the Hokage. From then on I had a bigger target painted on my back just for the fact that I'm close to the reining Hokage so I had spent less time with Kushina and more with Root to try to distance me slightly.

Then the Kyuubi happened and he needed to show that Konoha was strong. I just happened to be the right mix of young, strong and already having a target on my back. Since the connections I had would allow me to be protected in the village I assume he decided to make my arrival on the 'public' side of the shinobi world as large a splash as possible.

This would allow me to be recognized later in life when I was inevitably made to try to see if my 'bloodline' ran true or not. It might even allow me enough recognition that the clans might try their hand at snaring me into their fold and mixing the two lines as the Uchiha had begun to do. In recognition of this I would allow certain tidbits of gossip and information to spring up about me which would be true but vague enough to allow me some element of surprise. Slurping the remainder of the bowl I looked over at Hina.

The veins around her eyes were bulging again as she looked at me. "I can't tell if you're lying or not." Her voice was a whisper.

"As I told you before everything I've said is the truth." With a portion left out or taken out of context but the truth none the less. I let my chakra dampening technique activate and the widening of her eyes showed me she knew I was doing a technique that was actively discouraged for anyone other than a jonin or above. "Nothing but the truth. Just like the fact you're looking under my clothes again you pervert."

A hint of color grew on her cheeks but she held up wonderfully. "But that's insane. How could you learn all that?"

I shrug. "I just learn quickly." Massive understatement but everyone around me would recognize it for what it was, a deflection.

"May I leave? I need time to process this." More like you're going straight to mommy and daddy to try to find out anything you can on me. I still nod graciously.

"Of course meet me back at the training ground we were at tomorrow at 8. Jiraiya sensei should be there then along with our other teammate as well. Don't worry, I'll pay for the meal even though you keep looking under my clothes." Another tidbit of information thrown out for the wolves.

"Thank you." She gave me a shaky bow and left in a hurry. I watched her leave and then turned back to Teuchi to pay for the meal. Doing so I made to leave yet a thought made me pause in the doorway. Turning around I marched back to the counter and slammed my hand down on it.

"Teuchi I want you to have this." My hand moved away from the large stack of bills I had removed from my inventory. His eyes widened in disbelief at the amount.

"Shiro I can't accept this I don't need the money and I'm not a charity case." He pushed it back towards me.

"I know you're not but you're always giving out a free bowl of ramen or a half priced one all the time. You always have a kind word to say and if you can't accept charity think of it as a bride." I stated plainly and pushed the money back towards him.

"I'm bribing you to close the restaurant and go spend time with your daughter Ayame." He seemed to be struggling and sensing blood I moved in for the kill. "Don't make me get Kushina involved in this."

That drew a laugh from him even as his eyes watered. "Ha, she would just nag me until I closed. Saying how her ramen is extra salty and she needs her chief to go cheer up so it isn't so salty anymore." He paused then pushed the money back at me but stopped as an equally large stack was slammed down next to it.

"Don't you dare test me on this. Money is almost worthless to me and I will make you accept this so you can spend time with your daughter without worry." He tried to say something but was interrupted again by an older man slapping more money next to mine.

"I agree with the kid. Your child is more important than feeding us right now. Go spend time with her. She just lost her mother, don't make her lose her father as well." More people got up to put down money next to the pile.

"You guys." Tears were now openly streaming down his face and he wiped at them furiously before beaming at us. "I'll do it but they'll be free ramen for everyone once I get back." The group of people let out a cheer and I was content to slip away out the front while Teuchi was distracted. The sun hit my eyes as I stepped out and I raised a hand to shield them. 'Hm, it's a beautiful day today.'

 **Age: 5 year - 11 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 19 - 12% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,230/1,230**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 123**

 **END: 110**

 **DEX: 140(154)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 96(101.76)**

 **LCK: 18**

 **Points: 33**

 **Money: 224,244**


	19. Team Jiraiya

**Author's Note: Hello everyone I'm back. Sorry for the delay but I had to take care of some things in real life. I want to give a special shout out to Uriil. Thanks for inquiring to see if anything was wrong.**

 **I also want to give a special thanks to a guest reviewer. I know I'm on the right track when anonymous people tell me to go kill myself. :p**

 **I also might be going back and checking for clear grammatical errors after one or two caught my eye. It depends on whether I have the time to do it or not. So if that pops up on your inbox please just ignore it. Anyways thanks for reading and have a wonderful day.**

Leaving Ichiraku's behind I jumped up to the rooftops and ran along them. I didn't really have a destination in mind right now and since it was only the middle of the day I didn't really have anything urgent to do until tomorrow when I would meet up with my full team. For now I just sped along and enjoyed the feel of wind against my face as I raced over the rooftops. The Hokage's Mountain caught my eye and with a mental shrug I changed course and started heading towards it.

I could of just run straight up the side of it but I took the small winding trail off to the side of the mountain. Still, I reached the top of the mountain in a reasonable amount of time so I sat down on the ground and enjoyed the view from the top. I truly did love seeming sights like this even before I died and while I could no longer feel the same as before it was still relaxing to me.

Closing my eyes I entered a meditative state and time lost all meaning to me as I sat there absorbing the feel of nature surrounding me. I don't know how long I sat there but the feeling of the sun had disappeared from my skin by the time I felt a familiar chakra flare behind me.

"Hello sensei." I rose and busted off my pants before fully turning to her. Saiko dropped down from the tree to land next to me.

"Hey, you missed our training start time." I blinked at that. I thought she was super busy right now with work.

"I apologize for that sensei. I lost track of time and I assumed with recent events you were too busy to train me at the moment." She reached out and flicked my forehead.

"Never assume anything but in this case you are correct. My duties for tonight place me in Konoha." I studied her more intently as I rubbed my forehead before nodding.

"Shadow clone?" She nodded and I sat back down on the ground. A moment later she joined me and we both just looked over the moonlight village.

"So what happened to you today?" Humming quietly at the question I considered how to answer.

"I met one of my teammates but Jiraiya didn't show up at all and I had to get the Hokage involved when my teammate didn't know the mission parameters. Her name is Hina Hyuga and she kept on looking under my clothes with her byakugan, the pervert. She also told me my charka is very structured." I could hear a slight sigh from Saiko as she sat next to me.

"Then I started a gossip ring going around some of my powers. Specifically the fact that I know three different elemental styles with two of them having A rank jutsus and the other a B rank. Along with that I revealed that I knew how to perform the chakra dampening technique to Hina because she had her doujutsu active again. This should allow those rumors to grow in the two months before the final tournament of the Chunin Exams cementing the fact that I am an upcoming power." She didn't say anything and I continued.

"Then after Hina left I bribed Teuchi to close his restaurant and spend time with his three year old daughter because he lost his wife in the attack." I could hear her muttering something before she spoke.

"How much did you pay him?"

"Hm, I personally paid him 40 thousand ryo but as I was leaving more people were pitching in."

"Shiro," she hesitated. "While the gesture was extremely nice don't you think that was a bit much? That's two A rank missions right there." I gave a shrug and leaned back to lay on the ground.

"Money doesn't mean much to me really. I have almost no expenses because I lack the need for food, my shelter is taken care of for me and while I do spend quite a bit on shinobi supplies it's because I can, not that it is necessary. I could literally move into the woods and live there because I can carry everything I could want with me. Maybe later in life it will play more of a role but for now I have no real use for it." The night sky was absolutely full of stars shining down on us. The lack of industry and light pollution gave me a stunning view of the heavens above.

"Alright then I see you thought this through." She looked up to the sky as well. "Have you looked more into the Chunin Exams at all?"

"I did. It's usually divided into three parts. An information gathering stage, a survival stage and a tournament that is done a month after the first two." She nods at that confirming my research.

"How about how much you will show during it?"

"I will do my absolute best from the start because trying to hold back is asking for death or injury and trump cards are only useful if you actually use them. Just make sure the enemy doesn't survive to learn from their mistakes." That's something I strongly believe in. Fight every fight like it's to the death because you have no idea what your opponent's intentions are.

"Hmm, alright. I expect to see you win it then." I gave her a sly grin.

"Of course I'll win you trained me." She gave a huff and then reached over to ruffle my hair.

"Cheeky brat." Why does everyone always ruffle my hair? I don't remember that happening in my first childhood. Eh, it doesn't really matter I guess.

"So sensei, can I practice my new technique?"

For some reason I could feel dread and a sense of resignation coming off her. "You have a new technique?" I blinked at that. She doesn't know?

"Yes, but if you don't know then forget about it." If anything the aura of doom increased.

"Is it like your first technique?" I thought for a moment.

"The Hokage hasn't really instructed me on the secrecy of it yet but that might be because it slipped his mind what with everything that happened. Lord Jiraiya told me not to use it right now but I thought as my sensei you could override his command in that regard."

She hesitated momentarily before she spoke. "I'll trust his judgement about this for right now as I don't the entire story and this is no place to tell me the details of your technique." Her head jerked to the left before she spoke again. "I have to go now. Try to stay out of trouble." With that said the clone popped in a cloud of smoke that I blew away with an application of wind chakra. Something must have happened but she didn't seem too worried so I trusted that she could handle it.

With nothing else to really do I just laid there on top of the mountain watching the stars shine down from above until the sun started to rise over the horizon. With a grunt I rose and stretched out to enjoy the feel of it.

Finishing my stretches I decided to take the more direct route down and simply ran down the side of the mountain. I still had plenty of time before the team would meet so I swung by Ichiraku's just to make sure it was closed. It was and there was a sign on the front of the restaurant that announced it would be closed for the rest of the week. Good. I swung by the usual place where I performed Angel's Breath on people and used it twice as it had become habitual at this point.

Finished with my task I slowly made my way to the training ground and still got there with a few hours to go. Sometimes not having to sleep gives me far too much time to simply use. Sure I could just continually train but it becomes boring simply repeating a task over and over again for hours. I needed to simply watch the stars or relax sometimes so I didn't burn myself out.

Settling into a meditative pose to restore my spent chakra quicker I sat there until my chakra was once more full. A quick glance at the sun showed me I had about two more hours before anyone would even show up. Even though I had just thought about relaxing instead of training I had spent the night just staring up at the sky. Letting out a sigh I made two clones and made them go start elemental manipulations while I started a physical work out. Time passed by and when I sensed an unfamiliar chakra signature coming towards me I dismissed the clones to turn my full attention towards it.

A young boy of about 150cm tall entered the clearing to land near me. He had short, unkempt, dark colored hair, black eyes and a relatively broad nose. His clothes trended towards darker colors and he had a high collared black shirt with a harness for a tanto around his chest. The Konoha headband sat prominently upon his brow and while I was studying him I could tell he was doing the same.

"So you are to be one of my teammates for the Chunin Exams then?" He asked politely. I nodded.

"I am. My name is Shiro, no last name, and it is a pleasure to meet you." I could see him raise an eyebrow at that.

"Shiro? You wouldn't happen to be familiar with Itachi would you?" Hmm, has he heard of me then?

"Yes, I've known him since I was three or so." His gaze became more penetrating as I confirmed it.

"I see. I've recently became his friend and he had a lot to say about you. Did you really show up to his house so covered in blood that his drains had to be replaced when they clogged?" I couldn't help the shudder from the horrible memories and I grimaced.

"That is one of my less pleasant memories, but yes it did happen and no I won't tell you why it happened. Somethings should be left forgotten. Now, I think it is terribly rude for a teammate to hide behind a tree and listen in on our conversation. Come on out you Pervert."

"I'm not a pervert." Hina said as she stepped out from behind a tree. "How did you even know I was there?"

I tapped the side of me nose and smiled. "It's a secret." She gave a huff as she walked over before glancing at Shisui. I saw Shisui mouth pervert to himself in confusion but didn't feel like enlightening him at the moment.

"Are we really teaming up with an Uchiha for this?" Glancing quickly between them to judge the potential tension and whether or not this would adversely affect our teamwork I slowly spoke up.

"Yes, we will be. Is this going to be a problem for you?" The look she sent me was mildly reproaching.

"No. It will just give me a chance to show how much better the Hyuga are than the Uchiha." She sent a haughty look his way which he returned.

"I do believe you are mistaken. The Uchiha are clearly superior, but where are my manners." He turned to me first. "My name is Shisui Uchiha. It is a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Shisui." He gave me a bow which I returned before he repeated his greeting to Hina.

Rivalry between the clans or not she knew how to be polite when necessary. "My name is Hina Hyuga and you may call me Hina since we will be on a team together for the time being." She glanced around the clearing. "Now where is our sensei or will he not show up again like yesterday?"

Before we could comment more about our sensei's absence a rather large orange toad hopped into the clearing. For reasons unbeknownst to me it was wearing a purple jacket as well. I mean why would a toad need a jacket anyway? Totally illogical really.

"Yo," its voice was surprisingly deep for a man sized toad. "You brats Jiraiya's new students?" We glanced at each other before nodding to it. "Cool. Jiraiya sent me to tell you that something came up and he couldn't make it. Don't really know why he sent me instead of just sending a clone but whatever." He gave us a shrug before looking around. "Well I delivered my message so I'll be going now."

There was a popping noise and a cloud of smoke filled the area where the toad once was. I couldn't help but frown at Jiraiya's seemingly lackadaisical attitude towards us and our mission. It didn't make any kind of sense unless this was a test before the test or something truly bad had happened, besides the Kyuubi attack, and we weren't cleared to know. My gut was telling me it was a combination of the two so I simply rolled with it.

Turning to my teammates I began to speak. "Alright then. Even though our sensei isn't here that doesn't mean we can slack off. Let's start off by getting to know each other a little bit more and then we can move into a light spar to gauge where everyone's strengths are. Hina and I did this yesterday so why don't you start off Shisui." I sat down on the ground and motioned them to sit with me. They did so and Shisui spoke up.

"What do you want to know about me?" I hummed at that before answering.

"How about what you like? What are your hobbies? What is your dream? That sort of thing." He nods at that and contemplates for a bit before answering.

"I like my friends, family and my clan. I also like chocolate pochy. My hobbies are training and studying history. My dream… my dream is to see the world at peace." Hmm, he has the same dream as Itachi. No wonder they became friends then. Both Hina and I went next and we repeated what we told each other yesterday.

After that was done I stood up and brushed off the dirt on my pants. "Let's start on taijutsu then. One on one for ten minutes and then we'll switch partners until everyone has gone against one another. I'll be one of the two that goes first."

"I'll go first as well." Hina stood up and faced me. I gave her a nod and turned to Shisui.

"Can you keep track of time and supervise then?" He gave me a thumbs up and I turned back to Hina. My hands turned blue as the chakra scalpel technique partially formed.

Hina gave my glowing hands a wary look as she settled into her clan's taijutsu stance. Giving it a once over it seemed very fluid yet solid and at the same time I could tell she could shift towards any threat almost immediately. "Why are your hands glowing?" I settled into my stance as well and brought my hands up before me. Letting the scalpel form I showed her it.

"Usually I fight with these active all the time." The blade dissipated leaving my hands still glowing blue. "I won't use them now but try to keep in mind that they would be there if we fought for real." She hummed at that as the veins around her eyes bulged. "Whenever you're ready then."

There was a pause and then she struck faster than a viper with her right hand. Knowing the dangers of the Hyuga taijutsu I intercepted the jab on the meaty part of her forearm pushing her arm out to the side and away from me. I had no time to strike as her other hand was coming right for me. Redirecting that one as well as sending a low kick which she blocked and I disengaged slightly to avoid her retaliatory strike.

Over the next ten minutes I could see why the Hyuga had such confidence, or was it arrogance, in their taijutsu style. It wasn't meant to hit hard but rather have blindingly fast strikes which they could use to seal off your chakra flow leaving you helpless. Their eyes simply complimented the style perfectly which made a lot of sense. It was a death by a thousand cuts kind of style and it worked as evidenced by the fact that I could no longer channel chakra into my hands at the end of the spar.

Stepping back as Shisui called out the time I glanced down at my hands and frowned. Sure if I had my chakra scalpels fully formed think I would have won but it's hard to say really. She's slightly faster than I am and she specializes in taijutsu whereas I merely dabble in it. If I had to really fight her I'd do it from range or if I had to fight up close I would use the rasengan and literally tear her arms apart.

"That was a good spar. Do you want to continue with Shisui or let me go again?" I asked her as she absently rubbed one of the areas that I had been able to hit. Looks like she's not as durable as I am then.

"I can continue."

"Great. Can you remove the blocks on my chakra before that though?" I could feel portions of her chakra swirling over my tenketsu forming a block over it and not allowing my charka flow freely. I felt that I could probably forcibly expel those blockages but it would be better to not let that be known. She motioned me over and started to tap the portions of my arms that were blocked allowing my chakra to flow freely once more.

"Thanks for that." I said cheerfully and moved out of the way as I switched places with Shisui. Hina settled into her taijutsu stance once more and Shisui's eyes turned red as he settled into the Uchiha interceptor stance. Perhaps knowing that it was a more reactive style than the one I was using Hina didn't immediately charge in this time. Nevertheless the result was the same as Shisui ended up without being able to utilize chakra in his arms.

"That was indeed a good spar. You are quite talented at taijutsu." I could see Hina preen after Shisui said that.

"Of course I am. The Gentle Fist style is an incredible style of combat." Careful there someone might come along and burst that ego with something pointy. I moved over as she undid her handwork on Shisui.

"I believe that it would be my turn again." Shisui looked over at me and nodded. "Whenever you're ready then." I settled into my stance as his eyes turned red once more.

Over the next ten minutes I could only conclude that fighting an Uchiha with their sharingan active is annoying. It was as though he had the same inhuman reflexes skill that I had gained and the fight devolved into both of us dodging each other's attacks before we fully committed them. I think his speed was slightly slower than mine but he more than made up for it by just not being where my attack would land. In the end it was an inconclusive fight where neither of us gained a clear advantage over the other.

"That was interesting. You seemed to have some incredible reflexes to allow you to dodge most of my attacks." Yes, something to that effect. I simply shrug and move toward Hina.

"If you say so. Alright, now that we've warmed up a bit do either of you know any good teamwork exercises that we can work on? I've been mostly trained solo so I don't have the best knowledge on them."

Shisui joined us to form an impromptu circle. Both of them had thoughtful expressions on their face as they pondered the question. "I know some but most of them require a fourth person to be an 'attacker' or 'defender.' I suppose we could use clones but it really isn't the same." Hina seemed to agree with Shisui as she nodded after he was finished.

"Hmm, alright then we'll go see if we can get someone to stand in as the fourth person later if Jiraiya doesn't show up by tomorrow. I suppose we could start by clarifying our positions on the team. For the duration of this mission I was selected to be the team leader. I want to designate Hina as secondary in command if I become incapacitated." She gave me a smile at that and I didn't miss the smug look she sent Shisui's way.

"She has the most experience besides myself so this is in no way a jab at your skills Shisui." I looked him in the eyes as I said that and he seemed to be satisfied with my choice and reason for it. "Right, moving on then. As we have seen Hina is the most proficient at close quarters combat so she will be our go to when our enemies get too close. At close to medium range Shisui will be there to intercept with genjutsu and ninjutsu as needed." Everyone seems to be fine with what I had said so far so I continued.

"As for myself I will be the medium to long range specialist with ninjutsu. I am also passable as a battle field medic so after the battle you can come to me with any injuries you have. Now I want to go over possible strategies we can use when we attack or when we are attacked." We all sat down and got comfortable as we went over possible scenarios that could happen. Once we did that we played out those scenarios to the best of our abilities using clones. It made for a productive 4 hours and at the end of it I suggested breaking for lunch.

"Are we going to that ramen place again?" Hina inquired as we walked back into the village.

"No, it's closed right now. Do either of you have any suggestions?" We bickered back and forth but final decided upon one of the Akimichi clan's restaurants. They had wonderful barbeque and I picked up the bill at the end of the meal. After that it was back to training for another 2 hours before we ended it for the day. They both left after saying their goodbyes and I was left alone in the clearing.

I leaned back against a tree and considered my team. So far we seemed to be getting along well with the minor hiccup due to clan rivalries but it didn't seem to interfere with their ability to work together. I found Hina to be far more excitable than Shisui at the moment but that could be because I hadn't found anything to pick at for the moment. The scenario training went well but it would have been better if Jiraiya had actually shown up.

Even if this was a test of my leadership skills it would have been nice if he at least showed up afterwards. As though my thoughts had summoned him the air to my right shimmered and revealed him to be lounging on a tree branch. "Good job today brat." Freaking ninja.

"Hello sensei. Was that an invisibility jutsu?" I tried to keep the longing out of my voice but I think I failed when he gave me a knowing look.

"It was but I don't teach things to brats that set angry kunoichi on me." He hopped down from the branch and ambled over. Hmph, stingy bastard. I'll just make my own then. "I'll make an exception if you win first place in the Chunin Exams though." You are a saint amongst men good sir.

"I'll get right on that then." I paused for a moment before I asked my next question. "Was today a test for me or did you actually have to do something else?"

"Yes." He stated simply. I let out a huff. Fine be that way. "I heard about what you did at Ichiraku's as well. That was a good thing you did there. Although I'm not so sure about how you let out information about yourself in such a crowded area." I gave him a shrug.

"It was simply to get rumors started about me so by the time the Chunin finals roll around there will be a core of gossip that will cement the fact that I'm an up and coming power for Konoha. I gave out enough information that it will be juicy gossip but nothing too specific."

He eyed me critically before he spoke again. "I see. Nevertheless try not to start any other information wars going. We already have enough after the attack." Eh, fine by me I guess. Moving on then.

"So I was wondering if you could lift that ban on my new technique?" I didn't think it would work but I gave him the puppy eyes.

He actually stopped and thought about it for a few minutes before he replied to my question. "I'm going to have to say no for the moment." Damn it. "We just don't know anything about it really and the second one is just too dangerous for you to play around in. Wait until after the Exams and then we can fully explore its uses and dangers." My shoulders slumped as I let out a big sigh.

"Alright, I won't use it for now." Seemingly seeing that I would keep my promise he nodded and then continued.

"I'll be here tomorrow morning at the same time you guys showed up today. We'll get started on making you a smoothly functioning team." Great. I briefly considered whether or not I should speak up and then decided why not.

"Should we go on a shorter C or B rank mission that involves some fighting like clearing out a bandit's camp or something along those lines? It would allow us to try working together out in the field." He made a humming noise at my suggestion.

"I'll consider it and if a good mission pops up we might take it. If that's everything I have to get back to work." He let out a weird sounding giggle and vanished as soon as he saw I was done with him. Weird dude.

The next two weeks was simply Jiraiya forming us into a cohesive team. We weren't going to be exceptional by the time the Exams rolled around but I felt we would be decent on the teamwork portion. With merely a week and a half before we had to depart to Suna Jiraiya changed it up and tossed me a scroll as soon as he arrived.

Curiously I opened it and was momentarily distracted by the ding.

 **Ding! Task Received.**

 **Kill the Bandits( B Rank)**

 **You should know what to do by now but if you don't I'll lay it out for you.**

 **Find Bandit**

 **Kill Bandit**

 **?**

 **Profit**

 **Rewards: 500xp, 8000ryo**

I felt like doing a face palm. Sometimes my power gets sassy and I have no idea why. Reading the rest of the scroll I found out that there was a small bandit camp located about half a day's journey from Konoha. Relaying this to Hina and Shisui didn't take long and as soon as I was done Jiraiya spoke up.

"For this mission I won't do anything but tag along and observe. I want to see how you guys do out on a real mission so get to it." His piece said he shimmered and turned invisible leaving the three of us standing in the clearing. I turned to see that Hina had her doujutsu active. No doubt she was checking to see if he was actually still here.

"Right, does everyone have everything they would need for a mission?" Hina turned her doujutsu off and nodded along with Shisui. "Then let's get going." We flickered out of the clearing and set off in a wedge formation with Hina up front, myself on the left and Shisui on the right. We kept up the pace until we were around 20kms out from the target then stopped to rest and recover.

"Hina, how far can your eyes see?" I could see her momentary hesitation before she answered.

"Around 5kms." Damn that's far. How do their brains even process that?

"Good. When we get close enough I want you to relay what you can see and we'll go from there." She nodded and once we had all recovered we continued on. When we had reached the optimal range for Hina we stopped once more as she relayed information to us.

"I can see 8 bandits with no civilians. I can also see what looks to be a missing nin." I gave her my full attention when she said that.

"From what village and can you tell what rank they are."

"It looks like he's from Kawa(river country between Konoha and Suna) and judging by his chakra I would put him as a genin." Humming in thought I turned to Shisui.

"Can you put up a false surroundings genjutsu on him as soon as we are in range?" He considered it for a moment and then nodded. "Once Shisui does that I'll take out the entire camp at once hopefully getting him in the process. If he does escape the initial barrage I want Hina to stay back unless he advances towards us while both Shisui and I will be double teaming him with genjutsu and ninjutsu. Hina I also want you to be on the lookout for anyone else that approaches us. Does that sound like a plan?" They both nodded and we moved out once more.

The camp was in sight before we stopped once more and Hina pointed out the genin to us. "That one near the tent with the blond hair and brown clothing."

"I see him. Putting the genjutsu up now." Shisui's hands blurred and after a moment he nodded to me. My turn then. A shadow clone appeared right next to me and we both crept closer until we came into range. Both of our hands began to blur as we gathered chakra. With a thought of _Electromagnetic Murder_ lightning sprung from my fingertips just in time to hit the wall of water that was crashing down on the camp. I held it a moment longer until I could no longer feel any foreign chakra signature from below me.

My clone popped and I signaled for both Hina and Shisui to advance along side me. "Hina do you see anyone alive near us?"

"No, nobody but our sensei and us."

"Alright let's clean up then." Wordlessly we set to stripping the dead of anything valuable and I sealed the genin's body into a scroll. Just as we were finishing up Hina quietly called out to us.

"I can see 4 people moving towards us at high speeds. They look like hunter nin from Kawa. What do you want us to do?" Hmm, if they're hunter nin they must be at least chunin with a jonin or two. We couldn't out run them so we'll try to be diplomatic first.

"We'll wait here. If they approach we'll try to talk to them first and if that works out then great but be prepared for a fight just in case. Both of you get behind me in a wedge and Hina keep relaying their position to us." They both nodded and Hina kept on giving us updates on their position. I was holding out hope that they would just pass us by but it was not to be. I tensed as I felt their chakra flare and only minutely relaxed as they signaled peaceful intentions.

Signaling back the same I cautiously watched as they landed in the clearing in front of us. All four of them had white masks with Kawa's symbol arrayed on the front of it. By my count there were three males and one female. The female seemed to be the spokesperson as she stepped forward.

"We are looking for a missing nin by the name of Daichi. He has blond hair and was last seen wearing brown clothes. Have you seen him at all?" I tilt my head at that.

"Hmm, it sounds familiar but what's it worth to you?" Never just give up information for free unless you stand to gain something for it.

"How about your life you brat?" One of the hunter nin behind the leader spoke up. The leader sighed and casually turned to backhand the one that spoke knocking him to the ground.

"I really don't understand how you made it into the hunter nins you idiot. They're from Konoha. We don't want to antagonize one of the big Five." She turned back to us and gave a bow. "I apologize for his rudeness. If you could give us information leading to his capture or death I would be willing to part with 500 ryo." I hummed at that before pulling out the scroll containing his body.

"He was amongst the bandits that we cleared out. I'll put this down between us and you can verify that it is him." I made a water clone and had it do just that. The leader took a similar approach and opened the scroll to reveal his body.

"Yes, that's him. As agreed here's 500 ryo." She tossed a bundle of cash to land next to my clone before she resealed the corpse and the team left us in peace. I motioned both of my teammates to stay alert until Hina couldn't see them any longer. Only then did I slightly relax and I motioned for us to go. I left the cash where it had landed. No way in hell I was going to touch something from their group after one of them casually spoke of killing us regardless of how nice their leader seemed.

The run back was quiet and as we caught sight of Konoha Jiraiya reappeared next to us. He gave us a cheerful wave and then rushed on ahead leaving us in the dust. I gave a resigned sigh as the implications of his actions hit me. He was leaving me to do all the paperwork for the mission because I was the team leader. Both Hina and Shisui caught on to the fact if Hina's giggles and Shisui's slight smirk were any indication. Ungrateful bastards.

Despite my grumbling it didn't take too long to write up a report and turn it in as I received a familiar ding once more.

 **Ding! Task Complete.**

 **Rewards: 800xp, 8000ryo**

All in all a good days work and Jiraiya seemed to agree after he popped back up for a review after everything was filed away. "You guys did a great job out there today. The actual mission was executed perfectly and you handled the unexpected situation well. Shiro, it was a good decision not to pick up the cash. It had a seal on it that would have released a poison. It would have knocked you out and the hunter nins came back after you left to see if it worked or not." His smile became slightly predatory. "It's just too bad that they all seemed to have such horrible luck. I don't think I've even seen 4 people trip and break their necks all at once."

Right, have to remember that he's an S rank ninja. He just acts like such a goofball all the time it's hard to remember that. Nothing else really happened after that and we were dismissed for the day. With nothing else to do I made my way back to the base but before I could enter my room I was stopped by a Root ninja and told to report to Lord Danzo.

Wondering why he wanted to see me I made my way to his office as quickly as I could I before pausing at his doorway and knocking. "Enter."

The door slid open and I walked inside to kneel in front of his desk. He seemed to study me for a moment before he tossed a folder to land at my feet.

"Read this, memorize it, and then destroy it." I glanced up at him before I picked up the folder and started to read. I couldn't help it when my eyes widened slightly at the contents. It was the details for all three of the tasks for the upcoming Chunin Exams. I guess we're going with the age old art of cheating then or as some like to call it, stacking the deck in your favor/ winning. I finished reading and with a minor application of fire chakra the file was burnt to ashes.

He was leaning back in his chair as I was reading and when the ashes had been scattered he spoke to me again. "With this you should have a major advantage over the competition. Although some of the other genin might have the same advantage as you do now. Think of strategies to overcome each of these tasks and remember." He leaned forward. "Failure is not an option for this." Message received. "Dismissed." I bowed and left the room my thoughts racing.

As soon as I reached my room a familiar ding was heard. With some trepidation I looked at the new pop up.

 **Ding Quest Received.**

 **A Chunin Exam Champion**

 **Konoha is counting on your team to show off the power that Konoha holds even after the devastating Kyuubi attack. Show the world that Konoha is still strong by blowing through the competition and winning the Exam. There will be repercussions if your team fails to make it to the final round.**

 **Rewards: 10,000xp, 80,000ryo, Invisibility Jutsu, ?, ?**

'Damn it. Why didn't this pop up earlier?' I studied it for a little bit before mentally dismissing the pop up. It doesn't matter in the end. I don't plan on failing and this just gave me extra incentive to win. My thoughts turned to the first task in the Exam. I needed a new jutsu.

Turning around I ran towards Saiko's room. I could feel her inside so I knocked on the door. "What?" A sleep filled voice drifted out of the room. Ops, I didn't mean to wake her. Pushing forwards now that I've already woken her I spoke up.

"Saiko, can I come in? It's for my mission." There was silence for a moment and then I heard her grumbled "Fine." I opened the door to a pitch black room and paused momentarily to turn on the lights. The sudden brightness blinded me for a moment and when they adjusted I hastily turned my head to the side. Apparently Saiko decided to sleep in the nude today.

"Why are you looking away?"

"Ah, you're naked."

"So?" Her voice was very bland. "Modesty can get you killed when you're on a mission and since you needed something for your mission it's not important right now." I'll never understand the female mind. Reading porn is bad yet being naked in front of others isn't?

"Right, um, I need a jutsu that will allow me to spew out poison from my mouth. It's vital for the success of my mission." She was silent as she rose from her bed and began to put on her clothes. When she was finished she turned to me.

"Are you absolutely sure that you need a jutsu like that?" I nodded and she sighed. "Alright can you wait here for a bit? I need to go see what I can find." She flickered out of the room leaving me behind. It didn't take her long before she reappeared and tossed a scroll to me. Mentally selecting yes to learn it I watched as the scroll burst into motes of light and information streamed into my head.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Poison Mist (Active D - B Rank (Varies)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Synthesizes poisons that you have been exposed to and releases them from your mouth in the form of a light mist that covers a 1x1 meter area.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

'Perfect.' I'll have to level this as fast as I can over the next week and a half. I paused as a thought ran through my head. Turning I walked over to Saiko and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry for waking you, but thank you for this. I really do need it for the Exam." Her entire body was tense and I thought I did something wrong before she relaxed and she ruffled my hair.

"It's fine. I was going to get up soon anyways and don't be afraid to wake me if you really need something. Now, I believe you have an Exam to practice for." Right, I pulled away from her and ran out the door. Just before I left I turned back to look at her.

"Thanks again Saiko, you're the best." With my part said I left for good this time and ran towards me room. My course was set and I began to train like a madman.

 **Age: 5 year - 11 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 19 - 14% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,230/1,230**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 123**

 **END: 111**

 **DEX: 141(155)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 96(101.76)**

 **LCK: 18**

 **Points: 33**

 **Money: 232,153**

 **Poison Mist (Active D - B Rank (Varies)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Synthesizes poisons that you have been exposed to and releases them from your mouth in the form of a light mist that covers a 1x1 meter area.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**


	20. Chunin Exams Part 1

**Author's Note: So since people seemed to be split down the middle about Mito being reincarnated I ended up flipping a coin and she will not be reincarnated at all. So we head off to Suna for the Exams now and I found out that Shiro is one lucky bastard. I rolled dice for his bonus skill (Like I do every 50 stat points which is why he sometimes doesn't get any bonus skill) and he got the one that had a 2% chance.**

 **I also had my computer crash losing about half this chapter and the bit where Shiro kind of went full on Joker. Since I had to rewrite it he ended up a bit less insane which I actually feel is better than how I had him act originally.**

 **Thanks for reading and enjoy.**

Every moment that wasn't spent with my team I worked on my new skill. As a happy coincidence using it also leveled up my poison resistance because I had to actually have the poison I wanted to synthesize be used on me before I could make it. Then when I used the skill the poison hung around so I got poisoned leading to an increase in resistance. It was a beautiful cycle, plus the hat wearing llamas were nice, but Carl was a bit of an ass.

I do think that I freaked Saiko out a bit when she found me in my room sampling poisons like a person samples candy. A rushed trip to the hospital had shown me to be in perfectly good health except for the fact that I had just taken a heavy muscle relaxant beforehand so I had a mild case of paralysis before it wore off. A long lecture on safety was delivered to me as I laid on the bed paralyzed about how people shouldn't play around with poison because it was dangerous, yada, yada.

The worst part about it was that when I returned to my room I found out that she had taken all the poisons that I had collected. Now I would have to either steal from the hospital, almost impossible, make my own poisons, or just practice using what poisons I had already ingested. I went for number three as I already had lesser variants of the poisons I already wanted so I would go for quantity over quality in this case.

Other than that the days before we would have to leave decreased at an alarming rate and almost before I knew it the morning for the day we would leave arrived. I had everything I thought I would need or want packed and ready to go along with a new outfit. After a small squirrel had touched my outfit as I was meditating and promptly fell over dead I requisitioned a new one from the armory. I kept the old one of course. Never knew when you might need a deadly outfit. I did one last check on my skills before I set out to go perform Angel's Breath.

 **Poison Mist (Active D - B Rank (Varies)) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Synthesizes poisons that you have been exposed to and releases them from your mouth in the form of a light mist that covers a 1x1 meter area.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **No Hands (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Eliminates the need for hand signs for D Rank poisons**

 **Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Invisible but Deadly (Passive) LVL 9 – 86%**

 **Any poison you exhale no longer forms a visible mist. Decreases visibility by 90%**

 **Poison Resistance (Passive) LVL 61 – 59%**

 **Gain a 61% resistance to poisons.**

It really helped that I gained a massive experience boost to Poison Mist whenever I ingested a new poison. Which also cost me a boat load of money to buy all those poisons. It also helped that I didn't train anything else in the past week and a half.

Finished with my observations I made to leave the base but one of the Root members stopped and brought me to a waiting ANBU near the entrance of the base. The ANBU motioned me to follow and I did so without saying anything. They brought me to a familiar base and I realized that they must be bringing me to Kushina before I left.

My theory was correct because as soon as the door opened I heard twin cries of "Shiro" before two small bodies slammed into me. I rocked back as they hit me so they wouldn't get hurt and listened to them babble at me. Mentally translating their speech into something more understandable I let Mito talk to me while Karin seemed content to just hug me for now.

"You were gone for so long. Why were you gone? Can you play with us? It's boring down here. Can you make us fly?" It would seem that she doesn't seem to be having any difficulties adjusting to the Kyuubi. Well, maybe an increased level of energy but that could just be because of her heritage.

"Your big brother has a very important mission that he had to prepare for." I tweaked her nose and she giggled. "I do think I could make some time for that though." She laughed as my chakra strings picked her up and started moving her around the room.

"Weeeeee, faster, faster." I increased the speed just as little bit and watched as Kushina started walking towards me with a smile on her face as she watched Mito fly around. I could see the beginnings of dark bags under her eyes but other than that she seemed okay.

"It's good to see you Shiro." She pulled me into a hug and held me there as Mito's excited squeals rebounded around the room. "The girls and I got up early just to see you off." If anything Karin's grip got tighter on me as Kushina said the last part. I glanced down at her as Kushina stepped away.

"Karin's had some nightmares after the attack." She whispered to me when she noticed my gaze. "We think she might be a Sensor because she avoided Mito for a good two weeks after it and cried about the scary, mean thing inside of her." Her eyes had a twinkle in them as she said the next part. "She also keeps on crying for her big brother Shiro to come and protect her."

Does she subconsciously remember me shielding her with my chakra during the attack? I let my chakra flow out of me to surround her. Initially, I felt her tense and then she absolutely melted against me. "It feels so warm." Her voice was muffled because she was pressing her face into my stomach but I could still hear her clearly. Kushina was grinning like a loon for some reason as she looked at the both of us.

"Mommy, mommy look I'm flying." She turned to look at Mito flying in a lazy figure eight formation.

"I can see that sweetie. Did you thank your big brother for that?" She giggled again as I made her do a loop de loop.

"No, thank you Shiro." Karin was making it a little awkward to walk the way she was hanging onto me like a limpet so I scooped her up and settled her onto my hip easily enough. She let out a little "eep" at the sudden movement but then settled for wrapping her arms and legs around me.

"Do you know when you'll be able to go home?" I asked Kushina as I made my way over to the bed to sit down.

She let out a huge sigh at that and sat down on a bed that was opposite from me. "We won't until I can find a way to block the man who did this from simply teleporting into our living room or,' she glanced at Karin and Mito, 'remove him from being a danger." I nod at that and move my chakra strings a little faster at Mito's urging.

"So you've just been working on that for the past month or so then?"

"That and taking care of Mito and Karin. I was able to use the ANBU to communicate with people outside." She gave me a huge grin and a thumbs up. "I heard from Mikoto about what you did for Teuchi. I couldn't be prouder of you." A brief feeling of warmth spread through my chest before it vanished.

"That being said,' she reached over and flicked my forehead, 'what were you thinking taking all those poisons? I heard you had to be hospitalized for it." I rubbed my forehead as I shrugged.

"It was necessary to prepare for the Exams and it didn't negatively affect my health." She still looked mad but it looked like the wind went out of her sails.

"Still… just try not to do it again, alright?"

"I'll try." She sagged briefly and then perked back up.

"So, tell me how your month went." Hmm, where to begin.

"Well the first thing you have to know is that my teammate Hina is a pervert…" I continued telling her everything that happened to me for the next hour or so. Karin had fallen back to sleep and was drooling slightly on my shoulder by the time I was finished but Mito was still bouncing around like a rabbit on caffeine. I could see why Kushina had bags under her eyes if this was how Mito was acting all the time.

Unfortunately it was coming up to the time to when I had to leave and I tried to gently pry Karin off of me but she tightened her hold whenever I tried to remove her. Maybe she doesn't want the feel of my chakra leaving her? Humming in thought I pulled out a coin from my inventory and punched a hole through it with an application of lightning chakra. That done I clasped it between my hands and ran my chakra back and forth through the coin leaving an echo of my chakra that would naturally fade in a few months. Finally, I pulled out a twine of thread and looped it through the newly made hole before tying it around Karin's neck.

With that done I was able to slowly pry her off me and I gently laid her down on the bed where she curled up around her new necklace. I pulled the covers over her before I felt Kushina's arms wrap around me from behind. "Has anyone ever told you that you're the best big brother every?" She whispered from behind me. I simply shrugged and she had a quiet chuckle before she stepped back and gave me a kiss on the back of my head. "Because from what I'm seeing you are. Let's go make sure Mito gets to say goodbye and then you can go meet up with your team."

We walked over to Mito who was playing with her toy rabbit. "Mito say goodbye to your brother." She jumped to her feet rather quickly for a two year old and looked at me.

"No, Shiro was gone for forever. He has to stay." She stomped her foot angrily as she said that. I knelt down so I could be face to face with her.

"I'm sorry Mito but I have to. Your big brother has an important mission that he has to go on." It looked like she was about to have a full on tantrum so I tried to defuse it. "I have to go and get your birthday present." As quickly as the storm was brewing it defused at the word present.

"Like Mr. Rabbity?" She presented the toy rabbit to me. I nod solemnly as her mind tried to decide which was better. Me staying or getting a new present. "You'll hurry back?"

"I'll come back as fast as I'm able to."

"Mito, why don't you give your big brother a hug before he goes?" I saw an angry look settle on her face at Kushina's words.

"No, he doesn't get hugs because he's being mean and leaving." She ran off to one of the beds and dove under the covers. It would seem she entered the terrible twos stage a little early. I straightened from my kneeling position and turned towards Kushina.

She was looking over at Mito with a slight frown but it turned into a small smile as she began straightening my clothes and gear. "We'll be waiting here for any news while you're gone. Don't feel that you absolutely need to win the Chunin Exam. I'll be fine with it as long as you return safely." You might be but others won't.

"I have to win it. How else could I get the best birthday present for Mito?" She chuckled at the lame attempt at lightening the mood before she bent down and gave me a kiss on my brow.

"You need to get going or you'll be late." I nodded and gave a small wave to Mito who was poking her head out from under the covers before I turned to leave the room. As soon as I was outside the room an ANBU came and guided me out of the base where I flickered away to join my team at the South Gate. Both Hina and Shisui were there waiting for me along with another two genin teams.

"Good morning everyone." Both Hina and Shisui greeted me as well while the other teams merely acknowledged me. Shisui seemed to be looking intently at my shoulder for some reason.

"Why is your shoulder all wet?" He asked. I glanced down and saw that Karin must have drooled more than I thought. There was a big splotch of damp looking clothe on my right shoulder.

"Ah, a young lady was drooling all over me this morning." Curiously, Hina went red at that and I'm sure I heard something about shotacon from her. Jeez she actually is a pervert. Mentally patting myself on the back for such a spot on deduction of her character I continued on. "Yeah my little sister got up early to see me off but she just fell asleep on my shoulder." Before I could continue Jiraiya showed up in a puff of smoke and motioned for everyone to gather around.

As soon as everyone was gathered Jiraiya stepped up. "Alright, listen up everyone. It's going to be a two day journey to Suna. We'll make camp on the border between Kawa and Suna where a border patrol will escort us the rest of the way. You will be respectful or you will be going back to Konoha without taking the Chunin Exam. Am I clear?" A chorus of acknowledgement resounded out from all the genin and giving us a once over he nodded. "Keep up then."

We set a steady pace amongst the trees and the miles flew by. Several times during the trip we stopped and rested as necessary. We were also stopped at the border of Kawa by a random patrol but they let us pass without incident although they did shadow us for a while. Other than that it was an uneventful trip besides seeing the land turn more and more into a desert. On a side note I must say that I absolutely hate sand. It gets freaking everywhere even if you're using chakra to not actually touch it when you're running along.

The sun was beginning to set before Jiraiya called for a halt and we set up camp quickly in the dwindling light. We set up a guard rotation for the night and I simply sat down to start working on my poison mist skill. I was so close to being finished with the prestige skill that I wanted to finish it up. I received a few odd looks during the night but no one really commented on it all and in the morning a Suna patrol arrived to escort us to their village.

It was a boring run with sand and more sand everywhere before the village itself came into view. Well it would be more appropriate to say that the huge cliffs that surrounded the village came into view and as we drew closer we headed towards a cleft between the cliff faces. We were escorted to the gate by the patrol and then they left us to the gate guards as they raced back off to their duties. Following a boring hour filling out forms for the Chunin Exams we were escorted to a hotel for the night.

The Exams would actually start in two days so we had a day leeway where we would be able to move around approved areas within the village. I planned to head towards the market place the next morning to see if I could find anything for Mito. Everyone settled in for the night and I seriously considered just going to sleep because I wouldn't be able to practice any techniques during the night. It would be extremely foolish to do so around so many foreign ninja and it would also be considered impolite to do so as we were guests for the time being.

In the end I just stayed up and meditated for the duration of the night. Might as well get some experience out of it after all. Morning came quickly enough and I asked both Hina and Shisui if they wanted to come to the market with me. They both begged off so I went alone.

It was interesting being in a foreign village. I knew they had fewer people in total than we did yet it didn't seem like it as all the building were close together so they were more concentrated. They also didn't have any wooden structures that I could see and the buildings consisted of mostly clay or stucco. The clothing was also different as most of the natives seemed to wear some kind of head wraps or neck covers to cover up from the relentless sun.

I found the market place easily enough. All I had to do was follow the smell and shouting really. I knew I had the right place when after turning down the street I was greeted to the sight of rows upon rows of tents and stalls lining the road. Walking through the mess of people I browsed the merchant's wares humming lightly under my breath. I found some interesting artwork and a plethora of interesting looking food but nothing really stood out as a good gift for a two year old.

"Hey there, are you here for the Chunin Exams as well?" I turned to see a blond haired shinobi of about 15 years of age standing there with a smile on his face. A quick glance at his headband announced him as a Kusa ninja. I gave him a smile in return. It's always nice to put a face to the people who are stalking you.

"My team and I will be entering. I can only hope I don't slow them down a lot. They're so much older than me and I just don't want to be a burden."

"Oh, so it's your first time taking the Exams then?" I nod enthusiastically. "I remember my first time taking it. My team failed in the first portion it was so hard." I think I'm being vastly underestimated by him. Good for me bad for him I suppose. I allow a moment of worry to show on my face before it became resolved.

"My team is awesome though and when we win my little sister will be so proud of her chunin older brother." He laughs at that and then looks around.

"Are you in the market to get something for your sister then?"

"Yeah, she was so sad to see me go I had to promise to get her a gift. Would you know any good gifts to get someone?"

"I think I can help with that." The next few hours were spent wandering around the market with my new best friend Sora. He regaled me with stories of the war and I responded with what I thought was the appropriate amount of disgust or fear. By the end of it we had found a highly stylized fan with a lotus pattern on it that I though Mito would enjoy.

"Hey mister how much is that fan?"

He barely even glanced at me before he let out a gruff, "5,000 ryo."

"5,000! I only made 3,000 on my first C rank. How can it be that expensive?" The man just shrugged made a motion for me to either buy it or leave. I turned to leave before Sora stopped me.

"How much do you have?" I made a show of counting out my money.

"I only have 2,400 ryo. Why?" He pulled out his wallet and counted out 3,000 ryo. Taking 2,000 from me he paid for the fan and then gave it to me. "Thank you so much my sister will love it." Chuckling he patted my shoulder and even if I didn't feel the prick of a needle the ding would have given him away.

 **Ding! Gained +1 LVL Poison Mist**

 **Vomiting and Diarrhea inducing poison resisted.**

'Thank you in more ways than one.'

"Don't mention it. I have a little sister as well and I never want to disappoint her." He glanced up at the sun before he started talking again. "Do you want to go get something to eat? I know a good place."

"Yeah, but I have to pay for you. It wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"Great but it might be too spicy for you though. Just tell me if it is and we'll go somewhere else." I could even hear the concern in his voice as he said it. He really should go into acting.

"I can take it." I put as much bravado into my voice as possible and he chuckled as he led me through the market to a small stall that seemed to be selling lava instead of curry. Just being near the stall made my eyes water slightly. "Is this the place?" He nodded and with no small amount of trepidation I ordered two plates of food.

Sora began eating it easily enough so I shoved the first bite into my mouth. A second passed and then another. 'Hey this isn't so- Holy mother of God! It feels like Satan just rammed his dick into my mouth and pissed napalm. Why isn't my poison resistance protecting me?' Gagging and almost blindly reaching for the nearest source of water I was still able to hear the laughter of the surrounding people.

"Are you okay Shiro? We can go somewhere else if you like?" I finished drinking all my water and shook my head. I have to keep up the act.

"No,' cough,' no I'm fine. This is great." I started shoveling more of it into my mouth. Maybe if I eat it fast enough it won't burn as badly. It didn't, but I did finish it all. At the end of it I clutched my stomach and groaned. "Um, Sora, thanks for everything, but I need to, um, meet up with my teammates. Yeah, meet up with them. Please excuse me."

I dashed away and one of the locals 'helpfully' called out that it would burn worse coming out the other end. Thanking every deity that I didn't have normal body functions I continued to run all the way back to the hotel and slammed open the door to the bathroom. Not that I needed to but I could feel Sora's chakra follow me all the way back so I kept up the show. I stayed in there until I felt his chakra leave before I ventured out into the bedroom again. Hopefully my teammates had less of an eventful day than I did.

Several hours later Hina and then Shisui wandered in. "Hey guys how was your day?" They looked at each other then Shisui went first.

"Alright I guess. I just wandered around and got the layout of the surrounding area." He shrugged. "Nothing eventful."

"I went and shopped for shampoo and conditioner." We both eyed her and she turned a bit red before she turned haughty again. "What do you think my hair just naturally retains its silkiness?" I think she realized she was talking to the wrong type of people for this what with my natural bed head and Shisui's spikes. "Hmph, uncultured swine." Ignoring her for now I spoke up.

"Well, I got an enemy shinobi to pay for most of this stupidly expensive fan." I took it out and snapped it open. I had already checked for any traps or additional poison but I found nothing. "He then proceeded to poison me but I cleared it out of my system before it did anything." They both eyed me with concern.

"Are you sure you got everything out of your system?" Shisui asked while Hina had activated her dojutsu. Even if it is a great tool she should get in the habit of not relying on it so much.

"Yeah, it was meant to induce vomiting and diarrhea, but seeing as none of that happened I'm good. Just keep an eye out for a blond haired genin from Kusa. His name is Sora and even if he underestimated me he uses poison so be cautious about that." The both nodded and the rest of the night was uneventful except at midnight I quietly celebrated my birthday by spending 4 of my horded points on WIS bringing it up to 100.

 **Ding!**

 **Lesser Chakra Regeneration** **Chakra Regeneration (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 20% increase in Chakra regeneration**

 **Rolling for Bonus Skill**

 **Wisdom of Solomon (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 25% bonus to experience gain while learning skills**

 **Ding! Gained +2 LCK**

My eyes briefly widened and I felt like slamming my head against the wall. I could have learnt things so much faster if I had just spent the points earlier. No wait, it said it was rolling for it so I just got lucky. I might not have gotten this if I had done this with 100 WIS my chakra regeneration should be… I did some mental math 127 chakra/min without adding my meditation on top of that. I could have quite a few things active all the time now and never run out of chakra.

In the end I was quite happy with my impromptu point spending. Now I felt even more prepared for the Chunin Exams and that was a good thing. Humming lightly I spent the rest of the night just staring out the window of my team's room watching the moon traverse the night sky. I was pulled from my contemplation when the first hints of sunlight began to filter down into the village and my teammates began to stir. After eating a light breakfast Jiraiya led our group of genin to a large nondescript building before turning to face us.

"I would wish you luck but we make our own luck. Make Konoha proud." With that he and the two other Jonin senseis' left. I looked at the two other teams and gave them both nods as we stepped into the building. Almost immediately inside of the entrance there was a desk manned by 4 Suna chunin and a line for each of them. Our three teams separated and each took a line.

It didn't take long to reach the front of the desk and as we did the chunin snapped at us, "Team name and affiliation." As team leader I stepped forward and spoke for us.

"Team Jiraiya, representing Konohagakure." The chunin's eyes had briefly darted between us when I said Jiraiya's name. Letting out a grunt he tossed me a small stone tablet with the number 44 on it.

"This will be your team badge for the duration of the Exam. Do not lose it or you will be disqualified." I made it seem like I slipped the badge into my pocket while I really put it into my inventory. I had found that as long as I thought about opening my inventory I could put things into or out of it from my pockets. Of course the item in question had to be small enough to fit in my pocket but it was a handy feature. "Go to the room behind me and await further instructions."

We walked through the door to find a large open space where there seemed to be ninja from every single village except Iwa. Which made sense since Suna just finished a war with them. I even saw some people from Kiri and Kumo each in their own separate corners glaring at anyone that came close. We made our way over to a wall and I quietly whispered to Hina.

"I want you to find out the number for each team and tell us." She stepped behind Shisui as her dojutsu activated and I listened to her quietly telling us every team's number. Good. That will help in the second portion of the exam. I spotted Sora in the crowd and gave him a cheerful wave when he caught sight of me. His look of confusion was priceless.

Soon enough the doors closed and a kunoichi appeared on the raised stage. She had green hair and a tanned face along with long baggy clothing that hid most of her body from sight. Everyone quieted down and looked towards her as she lazily raised her hand. "Yo. Suna welcomes you to the first Chunin Exams of the year and stuff." She yawned and cracked her neck before she continued. "I'm Aiko and unfortunately I'll be your senior proctor for the Exam. I always seem to get stuck with all the shit jobs around here so I'm a tad angry at the moment. In light of that anyone that questions me will be dismissed immediately. Are there any questions?"

I wanted to laugh. Did she really think someone would ask a question after what she just said? "Um, I have a-"

"Team 67 fails." I could detect a certain amount of glee in her voice as the team was dragged off protesting the decision. What an utter moron.

"Anyone else? No, good. Now as genin I consider you to be about as smart as a rock. You fumble around not really knowing anything and you seem to die in droves. For this portion of the Exam I want to impart a lesson of what could happen to you all. One of your teammates will be given a message. That person will then be given to two people of an enemy squad and they are allowed to do anything to retrieve that message as long as they don't leave a mark on your body. You will have two hours to complete this test."

There were mutters springing up before Aiko silenced them. "Am I hearing questions?" That sure killed the conversation. She looked around and then spoke again. "As I call your team number come up to the front and you will be escorted to your destination."

She started calling out teams in pairs and I quietly started whispering to my team along with most of the room. "I'll be the person taken. No, stop no arguments on this." Shisui closed his mouth. "Hina I want you to seal off the chakra of whoever you get and make sure they can't move after you have them." She nodded. "Shisui don't use any genjutsu before the 10 minute mark." He looked at me oddly then nodded. "Whatever happens don't lose your cool."

"Team 22 and Team 44." We exited our huddle and approached the front where a team of Kumo ninja was waiting for us. They seemed about 13 or 14 years old with two males and one female in their team. Our teams both observed each other as two chunin came and guided us to our rooms. The room our chunin guide led us to was bare except for one chair and she asked us which of us would be the hostage.

"I will be."

"Your message will be 'The river runs dry in the summer.' Now follow me." I left behind Hina and Shisui and passed by the opposing team's hostage on the way across the hall.

As I entered the room the male Kumo shinobi spoke up. "What the hell is going on with Konoha nowadays? Are they really so weak that they have to send kids into the field." I ignored him in favor of looking around the room. It was just as small and enclosed as the one I just came from with a single chair in the center. Perfect.

Small amounts of poison began to flow from my mouth as I talked. "We make due." He sighed and then walked over to pick me up by my shirt to hold me nearly to his face.

"Look, kid, the proctor told us we can't leave a mark on you. That doesn't mean we can't break your bones if you don't tell us the message." I let out a deep sigh and shook my head. His nose wrinkled but before he could say anything the kunoichi spoke up.

"J, put him down." Ah yes, Kumo's habit of naming their ninja letters. He frowned at her.

"N, how else are we supposed to do this?" A good cop bad cop routine I suppose. She motioned for him to let me go and he grumbled but did it.

"Listen, my name is N." She crouched down near me. "The Chunin Exams can be deadly and I saw your team on the way here. During the second stage it's usually fights to the death but you can avoid that if you just tell us the message." I seemed to hesitate and then shook my head.

"I can't my teammates are counting on me."

"Let's just- woah," there was a crash as J fell to the ground after trying to take a step. N looked towards him with concern.

"N are you-" she also tried to move and collapsed to the ground. "Whas goin on?" N's voice became slurred as all she lost control of her muscles. I stepped forward and chakra scalpels formed on my hands.

"That would be the poison you breathed in," I said conversationally as I cut the major muscles of both their arms and legs leaving them helpless even if the poison wore off. "You know how the proctor said that we couldn't leave a mark on the hostage?" I smiled at them as I dragged them from the room. "You're not protected at all."

I made it halfway across the corridor before Aiko showed up. Her eyes were half lidded as she gazed between me and the two people I was dragging. "What are you doing?"

I glanced back at J and N to see hope blossom in their eyes at the appearance of the main proctor. "Oh, well I was going to take them to our hostage to torture them until he breaks. Might have to kill one or two of them before that though. Feel free to tell me I can't and I'll do something else." She tilted her head to the side as she pondered my words.

"That,' she spoke slowly, 'is entirely within the rules. Congratulations on finding a loop hole, you'll make a good shinobi someday. Now, don't do it again or I'll kick you from the Exam." The hope that blossomed died a fiery death as Aiko spoke. I turned back to her and gave her a salute.

"You got it boss lady." I could feel her eyes on me as I finished dragging them across the hall and into the room Hina and Shisui were in. "Hey guys I'm back."

"Shiro? What are you doing and why are you dragging our hostage teammates with you?"

"Incentive." I said simply as I walked over to the bound shinobi sitting in the chair. My hands glowed blue again and I cut his muscles as well. No reason not to be extra cautious and as an added bonus it didn't leave a mark on him.

"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way." I gestured to his teammates who were slumped on the floor where I had dropped them. "You can tell us the message or not, it's entirely your choice, but there will be consequences if you do not." As I spoke more poison left my mouth to settle on him.

I could see him swallow heavily as he looked between me and his teammates before he licked his lips. "You can't do anything to them. The proctors won't allow it." He tried to look over towards the chunin that was standing in the corner but I caught his face and made him look in my eyes.

"It's interesting that you should say that. On my way back here I ran into the head proctor and she gave me the go ahead." I gave him a wide smile. "I could cut open your friends and dance in their blood and the proctors wouldn't stop me. All I'm not allowed to do is leave a mark on you."

My piece said I stepped back as my chakra strings brought N floating over to me and then turned him so his head was facing the ground. Casually I brought a kunai to N's throat and looked back over at the still nameless Kumo ninja. "Well?" All he did was shake his head so I ran the kunai across N's throat. Blood began to gush from the cut and I stepped away.

"You might want to hurry up and come to a decision. I've nicked his jugular just then and if you don't decide within 2 minutes he'll bleed out." I began to slowly circle him as he jerked in the chair. It would seem that the poison is beginning to affect him.

"Stop it. Stop it you monster." I paused in my pacing and then continued.

"Monster? The only monster I see here is you. Are you so desperate for a meaningless promotion that you would let your teammate die right in front of you?" My pacing had brought me behind him and I ran my fingers down the back of his neck. "If I was a monster I would have disfigured them forever. If I was a monster I wouldn't allow you the chance to save them."

I leaned in and whispered right in his ear. "You can always wait 6 months and try again. Where's the harm in that?" My hand ran along his shoulder. "No one gets hurt, no one dies." I glanced back up to the now bloodied face of N turn paler. "Your teammate has about a minute left there."

He started panting and leaned away from me. "T-The night is darkest before the dawn." I glanced over at the proctor who nodded.

"Team 44 pass and Team 22 fails." I walked over to N and sealed off the wound before my teammates and I began to follow the chunin proctor.

"W-Wait what about us? Aren't you going to heal us as well?" I glanced back at him and shrugged.

"Not my problem." You'll probably be dead within the day anyways. My mission was to kill as many enemy ninja as possible as well as win the Exam. The walk back to the starting area was silent and we found ourselves being the first ones back. I leaned up against the wall and watched as Hina seemed to be debating with herself over something. She seemed to make up her mind about it and spoke up.

"What did you do to them?" I tilted my head at her.

"Are you sure you want to know?" She nodded.

"I hit both J and N with an intense amount of muscle relaxant so they would collapse without a fight. Then I cut all their arm and leg muscles. I also cut the hostage's muscles as well as giving him an aphrodisiac."

"A what?"

"A drug that induces pleasure. People can train to handle pain but having pleasurable thoughts as your teammate is killed in front of you broke him down mentally." I didn't mention the other poisons I had also given them. She seemed content if slightly off put with my explanation and I turned to see if Shisui had anything to say about it.

He just shrugged at me. "I would have liked to have been in on the plan but it worked so I can't complain." I hummed at that and we settled in to wait for the next portion of the Exam.

 **Age: 6 years - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 19 - 14% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,230/1,230**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 123**

 **END: 111**

 **DEX: 141(155)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 100(106)**

 **LCK: 20**

 **Points: 29**

 **Money: 221,546**

 **Skills upgrades and learned**

 **Poison Mist (Active D - B Rank (Varies)) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Synthesizes poisons that you have been exposed to and releases them from your mouth in the form of a light mist that covers a 1x1 meter area.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 **No Hands (Passive) 10 MAX**

 **Eliminates the need for hand signs for D Rank poisons**

 **Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.**

 **Invisible but Deadly (Passive) LVL 10 MAX**

 **Any poison you exhale no longer forms a visible mist. Decreases visibility by 100%**

 **Poison Resistance (Passive) LVL 61 – 59%**

 **Gain a 61% resistance to poisons.**

 **Chakra Regeneration (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 20% increase in Chakra regeneration**

 **Wisdom of Solomon (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 25% bonus to experience gain while learning skills**


	21. Chunin Exams Part 2

**Author's Note: I'm back with more Chunin Exam action. I do apologize if the last chapter seemed similar to any other fanfiction on this site but I can't know every one of them and if I do draw inspiration from one of them I'll announce it here. That being said the second portion of the Exam came straight from the first anime I ever watched. You can try to guess it and I'll announce it at the bottom.**

Being the first team back was both good and bad. It was good because it showed us as being worthy of notice and it was bad for the same reason. Being noticed is not really a great thing unless you have the power to defend yourself. I glanced at my teammates who were both resting against the wall like I was. I think we would be okay for now though.

Slowly, passing teams trickled into the starting area. More than a few had injuries and the most common of them seemed to broken bones. I did see some signs of heavy poisoning and some just seemed to be exhausted mentally. The latter I assumed were put through some kind of genjutsu session. One of our teams came in with two of them supporting their teammate who seemed to have broken both legs.

I motioned them over and I had them lay the black haired boy down on the ground. My hands glowed green as I ran them along his body searching for any other physical trauma I might have missed at a glance.

"Did the people who did this to you poison you at all? Is there anything else I should be aware of besides your legs? What's your name?" He shook his head and then gritted his teeth in agony when his legs were jostled.

"My name's Shou."

"Alright then Shou, you're going to feel numb for a little bit just so I can do the next part without you passing out in pain. Just tell me when you can't feel anything and I'll begin." I had to wait about a minute or two before he signaled he couldn't feel anything.

Great. Both of his legs were broken at the knee and his right had fractures on both his tibia and fibula. Lucky both breaks were relatively clean and there were no bone fragments to deal with. Getting him up and moving wouldn't take long but he would need time to fully recover. I started with the fractures as they were easier and then moved on to the main break after the bones had knit back together. I gestured for his male teammate to come closer.

"I need you to hold his leg after I set the bone correctly. Can you do that?" I could see him gulp and his eyes darted between Shou's face to his knee before he nodded. "Great. One second then." Carefully manipulating the knee back into place took a moment and when I had it positioned correctly I had his teammate hold it in place.

Thankfully his hands were rock solid and I was able to knit the bones back together swiftly. "You're doing great. Now the left leg." The process was repeated a second time and Shou tried to sit up before I gently pushed him back down.

"Not just yet. I want to see if there's anything I missed before I let you stand up." I ran my mystical palms all along his body, taking extra time to focus on both break areas, before I considered him to be in reasonable health. "Take it easy for a bit and you should be back in shape in no time. I'm going to clear out the numbing sensation now." As I was saying this I was tapping on his arm to alert him to the fact that his newly healed bones were still weak and needed time to properly settle. No point in announcing it to the entire room.

 _How long?_

 _A day, maybe two._

He grunted and made a show of standing up and leaning against the wall where I could feel him channeling chakra to stick to it in order to take the pressure off his legs. Good thinking on his part.

I went back to my team ignoring the stares from the surrounding teams. I know I'm supposed to show off but I really don't like to do it in front of a room full of enemy ninja. Just one of the things I'll have to do for Konoha I suppose. Shisui gave me a pat on my shoulder as I got close enough.

"Good work on Shou." Nodding slightly I leaned back against the wall and settled in for Aiko to come back and announce the secondary portion of the Exam. It took about an hour for her to arrive and by the time that she did I could see that 30 teams had passed the first portion of the Exam. Sadly, I didn't see the second genin group from Konoha. I did see Sora's team though.

"Alright you brats listen up." The quiet muttering in the room became silent as she spoke. "Congratulations on passing what must be for some of you your first interrogation even if it wasn't a full on torture session like it usually is." I could see discontent on the faces of some of the more heavily injured people. They seemed to disagree with her strongly but no one spoke up.

"Some of you may wonder why we had such a harsh task and I would tell them to grow up. This sort of thing happens with far more frequency than you expect and if you can't deal with that then you should stay a genin for the rest of your short life. That being said this was also a test on working around restrictions to accomplish your goal without breaking the rules. Some of you managed this better than others." She looked around the room and I could see her gaze stay on me for half a second longer than anyone else.

"Now,' she clapped her hands. 'It is time for a choice. Do you continue on with the Exam or not? I can tell you right now that it will be a two hour long run just to get to the second portion of the Exam. Take five minutes to decide starting now."

Immediately furious whispers filled the room and I could see the teams where one of their member had a broken leg resign themselves to failing. There was no question that my team would go forward but I glanced at them anyways and received nods. Good. My gaze flickered over to Shou's team where they had huddled together around him.

They could continue or not but I would recommend that they not continue. No matter how Shou tried to hide it his bones were still fragile at the moment. I knew that if his teammates helped him for the duration of the run and they found a quiet place to hide for a day or two they could still be competitors. The five minutes passed quickly and Aiko's voice rose over the chatter.

"Five minutes is up. Time to make a choice." There was a moment of hesitation to be the first team to resign but then a hand was raised and then another. In the end there was only 21 teams left with Shou's team being one of them. The nine teams were escorted from the room before Aiko spoke again. "All of you have made your choice. Follow me then. If you can't keep up you will be disqualified."

She set out on a moderately fast pace and guided us out of the village and to the west into the sand dunes. The sun was already hanging in the sky when we had began our run and by the halfway mark it was well into the sky and bearing down on us as we ran. I could see some of the more injured people begin to falter and I glanced back at Shou to see him grimacing in pain. Hmm, to help or to not help?

Both had their benefits and drawbacks. If I helped him his team could be an ally during the coming portion of the Exam. On the other hand if I helped him their team would be marked as weak and targeted by the others before we could meet up. If I didn't help they would fail but they would be alive. My thoughts raced back and forth before I decided that this was something I couldn't decide for him.

I motioned to my teammates to fall back with me and decreased my pace until I was running alongside him. He gave me a strained glance as I dropped beside him and tilted his head.

"Yesss?" His voice dropped into a hiss. That would be the pain from moving around before you're fully healed I wanted to chide him but didn't.

"I need you to make a decision." His eyes narrowed and his teammates moved closer to overhear. "I can carry you the rest of the way without any trouble but I need to know if you want me to do that?"

"Why didn't you offer this at the start?" I glanced back at his female teammate. There had been plenty of anger in her voice and I took a moment before I responded.

"Because it would have made you look like easy prey for the other teams. It will still make you look that way but less so than if I had just carried Shou from the start. We don't know what the second portion will entitle and if we're separated you could be hunted down then killed off." Her mouth opened and no doubt an angry retort was coming my way before Shou cut her off.

"He's right Ayaka." Her mouth clicked closed and she shot a glare at him. "We wouldn't have even been able to participate in the second portion if not for him and now that I'm having trouble going onwards he's giving us the chance to go on or not." There was a mulish look on her face as she turned her head away from him. Shooting me an apologetic look he spoke again, "Would you mind giving us a minute to decide?"

"Of course." Veering off to the right with my team to give them some privacy while they deliberated whilst my teammates ran alongside me for our own discussion.

"Are you sure you can do this without tiring yourself out?" I gave Hina a nod.

"Would you be using the technique you used for the first portion of the Exams? If so could you carry others even if Shou's team decides to drop out?" I sent him an amused look.

"I could if I was so inclined. Why? Are you looking for a free ride?" He had the decency to blush slightly before he rallied.

"I only asked as it would ensure that our team arrived at the location fully fresh and ready to fight." Sending a doubtful look his way I glanced over at Hina to see a hopeful look in her eyes at the prospect of not running through this heat. 'My team is full of lazy people' I lamented mentally.

"Fine,' I grouched, 'if Shou's team decides to not continue I can carry you guys." Ignoring when they high fived behind my back I looked over to Shou just in time to see his left leg buckle and the distinct snap of his bones breaking again. Muttering under my breath I sent a shadow clone but kept running. Hina sent a curious glance my way but I just pointed back towards Shou's team.

A proctor had stopped next to them and while I was too far away to hear their words the expressions on their faces told me enough. They couldn't keep up so they were disqualified. Her lips thinned into a line at the sight before she looked back at me.

"So about that ride then?" Mentally sighing chakra strings flowed out of me and attached to both of them before they were lifted off the ground to float alongside me. Sure I was showing off but most of the genin here would just see my two teammates floating alongside of me as I ran. Maybe even a few chunin would be stumped at what I was doing but I didn't hold any confidence in that seeing as how Suna was famous for its Puppet Brigade. I could see Sora glancing at me with a calculating gaze and gave him a friendly wave. Even Aiko had glanced back at me before shrugging and continuing onwards.

The rest of the trip was boring and hot. Every so often I could feel the gazes of the enemy teams looking towards us and with practiced ease ignored them. Two more teams were unable to keep up due to injuries received during the first portion of the Exam and were disqualified leaving 18 teams remaining. Our destination came into sight as a large cliff rose up from the horizon and it didn't take long to actually reach the cliff face where I could see numerous holes leading into the interior of it. Aiko stopped at the base of the cliff and turned to face us.

"Listen up now as I explain the rules of the second stage. The Cavern of Despair will be your next Exam location. Each team was assigned a stone tablet with their number on it at the beginning of the Exam and for this portion of the Exam you have to have six points in total to pass. Your team badge will be worth three points." She gestured to the cliff face behind her.

"You will be released into the cave system behind me with the purpose of tracking down your targeted team whose badge will be worth three points as well. For the teams that are unlucky enough not to find their target or lose their own badge each enemy team's badge will be worth one point." Aiko looked around at each of us before she spoke again.

"Once you enter the cave system you cannot leave until 5 days have passed. If you do so you will forfeit the Exam. In addition every member of your team must be alive and conscious upon exiting the caves for you to pass. Once 5 days have passed a series of gongs will ring throughout the entire cave system and you will have half a day to return to the surface. While you are in the cave system anything and everything is allowed so be warned about that." One of the other proctors handed her a large box. "Team Jiraiya passed the first portion first so they get first draw. Then pick a hole in the wall and go on in. For those of you who are wondering, no, you cannot pick the same hole someone else went in."

That's my cue then. I walked up to her and stuck my hand in the box. It felt as though it had simple slips of paper so I simply drew one at random. I purposefully didn't open it and my teammates formed up on me. Choosing a random hole about midway up the cliff face we ran up the cliff and into the dark entrance. It was initially very dark yet further into the cave I could see a steady greenish glow around a bend in the tunnel.

Stopping to create a small flame on my fingertips as my teammates circled up around me I glanced at them and then opened the small slip of paper. It had nothing but the number 35 so I showed it to them and then burned it to ashes. It would seem that Sora has something that we need. Brushing any stray ashes off from my hands I turned to Hina.

"Hina you're going to be invaluable for the duration of this test. If you need to rest then we'll rest, if we need food or water you'll be the first to receive it." She nodded slowly and I could see she didn't like being signaled out of the team this way. Tough for her but she'll just need to deal with it.

"Shisui, I'm sorry to say that I'm going to ban almost all your big fire techniques within the cave. We don't know how well air flow is down there and we could die if one of your techniques burns up all the breathable air." He hesitated for a moment and then conceded the point. "In fact most of my techniques will be useless here as well. I don't want the entire cave to collapse on us so it'll be up close and personal for now."

I took a breath and then continued. "Now team 35 is Sora's team. He's the guy that poisoned me in Suna's marketplace so leave him to me. He also has two male teammates around 15 years of age but we know nothing about them other than that and their physical appearance. The brown haired one has a heavier build suggesting a taijutsu focus most likely so that will be Hina's target. The black haired one didn't have any defining features so I can't help you out there Shisui."

I could feel other people's chakra moving past us as we discussed our strategy in the relative safety of our own tunnel. "Alright let's get to it then. Hina, if you would?" The veins around her eyes bulged as her dojutsu activated.

"This tunnel continues further inwards and then splits into three separate sections. There's some kind of plant growing everywhere that's making that glowing green light ahead. I can also see our target moving about 20 meters below us and to the North." Letting out a light hum I considered the information before coming to a decision.

"Right, let me take the lead until we get to the glowing plants so I can see if they're dangerous or not. After that Hina will take the lead and direct us towards Sora's team. Remember we have time on our side right now so there is no need to rush. Any questions?" They had none and I took the lead as we went further into the cave.

As we got closer to the source of the light the air began to smell of molding plants and turning the corner in the sharp bend allowed me to see the actual plants for the first time. Every available surface of the cave was covered in this small moss like growth that for whatever reason seemed to be emitting greenish light. Cautiously sending a clone forward rewarded me as when the clone moved through the moss little puffs of something shot forth from the moss. I had the clone run a diagnostic of the clouds with mystical palms and then dismiss itself. As soon as it popped a message dinged at me.

 **Ding! Hallucinogenic Spores detected.**

'How fun,' I drolly mused. They sent us into a cave to fight each other as we get high. I turned to my teammates as they needed to know about this. "Do either of you have masks capable of allowing you to breath when there's poison in the air?" They both shook their heads negatively but that was fine. I had gotten enough masks for myself and my teammates when I first started practicing my poison mist skill.

I pulled the masks from my inventory while disguising it as though I pulled them from a seal with a puff of smoke. Handing each of them the blank grey mask I also put mine on as well. Giving them a moment to put on their own masks I continued as soon as they were done. "The moss seems to be releasing some kind of hallucinogenic spores so be careful not to breathe them in or eat them when we stop to eat. Other than that I'll let Hina take the lead now." She gave her mask one last adjustment before she set off.

If anything the amount of moss seemed to become thicker the deeper we went into the caves which meant that they released more spores as we passed by. Luckily they didn't seem to be affecting us by direct skin contact so we had that going for us as well as the fact that they provided light which was nice. If they hadn't done so we would have had to have a fire jutsu going at all times which would have made us stick out light sore thumbs to anyone hiding in the dark.

Hina led us to the first three way intersection and then stopped to turn to me. "Sora's team is still moving farther away from us." She motioned to the far right tunnel. "If we follow that one it's the shortest route but I can see two other teams along the way." Pausing she corrected herself. "Never mind they seem to be fighting each other. The left most one will take the longest time to get to Sora but there's no one in our way and the middle path has one team on it."

It wasn't really much of a decision to make. Our mission was to win and kill as many of the chunin hopefuls as possible while leaving Suna relatively unscathed. "We go right." She nodded and led us onwards. After running for a good 5 minutes she gave us an update on the situation ahead.

"4 of the enemies are dead and at least one of them is injured badly." Hmm, we can use that to our advantage then.

"I want to sneak up on them and take them out then. Is there anyone else in the vicinity that could interfere?" She went quiet for a moment before shaking her head.

"No one is near enough to bother us. One of the teams seems to be moving through the ground but they're heading in the opposite direction. We're about two minutes out from the battle site." Both Shisui and I acknowledged her update and kept moving along. When we were about 30 seconds from contact we stopped on more.

 _Any traps?_ I signed to Hina.

 _No, target 1 is tending to target 2._ Alright then, time for some orders.

 _Hina, take target 2, Shisui and I will take target 1._

They acknowledged my orders and I slid my tanto from its sheathe on my back. Shisui did the same and I showed him how the mask could slide to the side to reveal eyeholes if he wanted to use his dojutsu for genjutsu. We quietly moved forward until I could see a kunoichi kneeling over her downed teammate rapping bandages around his chest area. Shisui signaled that he was ready and then we both flickered right next to the kunoichi tantos raised.

I have to give credit to the downed shinobi from Kawa. Even heavily injured and missing an arm he still had enough presence of mind to shove his teammate to the side reducing what would have been fatal blows into merely deadly ones. My strike had missed taking off her head but it still cut a line in her throat while Shisui's thrust hadn't been able to penetrate too deeply into her chest.

Trying to stem the flow from her neck the kunoichi leapt away from us and we pursued, leaving her downed teammate to Hina. Several kunai and shurikens flew towards us but not seeing any seals on them I merely swatted them from the air with a clang or dodged slightly allowing them to fly past me. Perhaps realizing that both of us attacking head on would be detrimental Shisui shot off to the left and following his lead I went to the right splitting the attention of the kunoichi two ways.

Her gaze flickered between us and she seemed to reach the decision that Shisui was the greater threat as she slightly turned towards him. Her hands started to form signs before she let out a loud cry. "NOOOOO!" Behind me I could feel her teammate's chakra flicker briefly and then vanish as Hina killed him.

"You BASTARDS I'll KILL YOU!" Hand signs forgotten she charged in a blind rage towards Shisui or it would be better to say she charged about a meter to the left of Shisui. 'Genjutsu' I thought as I raced towards her unguarded back tanto poised. Shisui did the same from her right side and both of us plunged our tantos into her chest at the same time.

Having two swords thrust into her broke whatever genjutsu she was under and she let out a wet sounding cough. "Fuck you," she managed to wheeze out before her head bobbed downwards. I withdrew my blade as her body became dead weight and without the support from either of our blades the body collapsed to the ground dead. Bending slightly I cleaned off my blade of excess blood with her shirt before sheathing it. Shisui did the same and then I glanced over to Hina to see if she was alright.

She seemed to be fine if her looting of the person she just killed was any indication. Letting out a grunt and motioning for Shisui to search the body as I went to one of the other 4 corpses scattered around the area. Looting the bodies of anything essential didn't take long and we were able to find the team badge numbers 19 and 37 on their bodies. I put them in my pocket and allowed them to disappear into my inventory for the time being.

The entire time that we had been looting the bodies screams of pain had echoed through the cavern along with the sounds of battle. It would seem that even with moss everywhere the tunnels were still a natural noise amplifier but there was something else below the sounds of battle. I channeled more chakra into my ears and listened. The noise resembled a waterfall, perhaps, or was it something else?

"Do you guys hear something besides the screaming?" Both of them cocked their heads to listen and then Shisui nodded while Hina shook her head. They both looked at each other and then Shisui spoke up.

"I heard it. I'm not quite sure what it is but it's low and steady so it's probably natural." Having someone else confirm it satisfied my curiosity for now.

"Great, I just wanted to confirm that it was there. We should really get away from this battlefield though, so Hina take us away." She nodded and after a couple of seconds started to head out once more. We ran through tunnel after tunnel never really getting much closer to Sora's team as sometimes we had to head in the opposite direction to continue getting closer to him.

At about the three hour mark Hina slowed down and then stopped. Her hands came up to her face as though to rub at her eyes but they were stopped by her mask. Letting out a grunt of irritation she made as though to take off the mask before my hand grabbed hers stopping her. I could tell even through the mask that she was glaring at me but I spoke calmly nevertheless.

"The hallucinogens haven't been able to be absorbed through skin contact but I don't want you to try rubbing your hands that are filled with spores onto your eyes." She kept up the glare for a moment before her body language relaxed.

"You're right I was just using my byakugan for so long my eyes were starting to hurt." I lightly chopped the top of her head.

"I told you at the start that if you need to rest we'll rest. Why didn't you stop sooner if your eyes were starting to bother you?"

"You-you actually hit me." There was a note of incredulousness in her voice as she said that. I just gave her a shrug in return.

"It was more of a tap and that was for making silly decisions. When you're tired you make stupid mistakes like trying to take your mask off to rub your eyes or leading us into an ambush." Not that I felt I could miss feeling any genin's chakra. If any entire genin team knew how to dampen their chakra I would eat my underwear, but better safe then sorry. "Like I said before you're critical for our success for this portion of the Exam. If I have to make Shisui carry you on his back I will."

"Hey,' he cried out indignantly, 'why would I have to carry her?"

"Because I carried you two through the desert so it's your turn." I could hear him mutter something but I didn't really pay it much attention to him. Time to pull out the big guns and maybe mess with their minds a little for fun. "How about I make it up to you for hitting you? Think of any food you could get back in Konoha and I'll get it for you. It's about time to eat anyway."

She let out a snort at that. "Yeah right, and how are you going to do that?" I felt a smile grow on my face since she couldn't see it.

"Ninja magic, now just humor me." I said as I wiggled my fingers at her. I had about 6 months' worth of various food stuffed into my inventory because I have a horrible hoarding addiction and an infinite pocket dimension to fill with junk.

"Fine, I want chicken barbeque from the Akimichi." I gave her a bow and then looked over to Shisui.

"Is chicken bbq alright with you?"

"Sure, why not?" He seemed to just be humoring me for now but that's fine. I stood as straight as possible and raised my hands to the air as though beseeching some greater power.

"Oh, Lords of Darkness-"

"Haha, lords of darkness, haha." Giving her a glare from behind my mask I started over again,

"Oh, Lords of Darkness hear my plea, bring to me, chicken for three." As I said the last part I pulled three plates of chicken barbeque from my inventory along with sides of rice all steaming hot and ready to eat. There was a moment of silence and then I could feel their chakra surge as they tried to dispel any foreign chakra that could be causing a genjutsu. I even saw Hina pinch herself before she turned to Shisui.

"I think my mask failed to keep the spores out because I just saw Shiro pull food from nowhere."

"We seem to be having the same delusion then." There was a hint of humor in his voice as he said it though making me think he was having fun with this as well. Pouting slightly at their denial of reality I waved the plates under their noses. It would be better if I could see their faces when I did this.

"We haven't moved for a while and the spores should have settled back down by now so it should be safe to eat the food just don't eat with your hands." Cautiously they both had their masks slide to the side to reveal their mouths and took the plates from me. I did the same and started eating my food as well.

There was silence between us except for the ever present rumbling from further within the caves and the sound of eating. We all finished at around the same time and I gathered the plates before making them vanish again. Hina's mouth portion of her mask slide back in place and she pointed at a spot far away from me on the other side of the cave we were in.

"I'm going to go over there and go to sleep so I can try to erase this from my memory. Don't either of you dare try to disturb me." Her piece said she marched to where she pointed and took out a scroll which spewed smoke as she unsealed whatever was in it. I glanced over at Shisui who shrugged at me.

"I guess we'll set up some traps along both paths." He left to go take the right most path leaving me with the other one. I spent about an hour setting up as many traps as possible before heading back to where Hina had decided to set up camp. While I would have liked to press on she had been using her Byakugan on and off for hours and I didn't begrudge her the chance to rest. When I had said she was vital for this portion of the Exam I meant it.

Shisui was already settling in as well and I sat down near them as our first day in the cave came to an end.

 **Age: 6 years - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 19 - 15% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,230/1,230**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 123**

 **END: 111**

 **DEX: 141(155)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 100(106)**

 **LCK: 20**

 **Points: 29**

 **Money: 221,546**

 **This was drawn from Hunter X Hunter and the first main arc where Gon takes the Hunter Exam.**


	22. Chunin Exams Part 3

As my teammates went to sleep I was continuously spamming my chakra sense for increased range and accuracy. My vigilance paid off when I felt 3 chakra signatures arrive within my sensing range and then stop about 100 meters away and about 50 meters above us. I debated waking Hina and Shisui but after two hours or so the enemy team stopped moving around and their signatures became sluggish as though they were sleeping. 'Interesting tactic there geniuses. Let's just all go to sleep in enemy territory without a lookout, it'll be fine herp de derp.'

Deciding this was too good an opportunity to miss out on I created three shadow clones that raced off down the path we were going on before Hina needed to stop for the day. I tracked my clones as they moved through the tunnels and I briefly lost them for a time when they went outside my range yet picked them up easily when they came back.

Finally they arrived at the location of the enemy team and my eyes narrowed as I felt the enemy team's chakra signatures disappear one by one in quick succession. Even if they were sleeping that felt too easy and I had half a mind to think this was a trap before one of my clones dispelled. As the wave of new memories hit me I quickly sorted through them until my clone arrived at the enemy team's location.

As soon as I did so an intense urge to face palm hit me and I knew why the enemy team had gone down so easily. For one the team from Yu(Hot Water) hadn't had any form of facemasks to protect them from the spores within the cavern so they were probably tripping hard by the time I arrived. Another reason was the fact that the two guys and one girl were all buck ass naked and passed out on the ground wrapped around each other with signs of certain 'activities' that took place before I arrived.

A few minutes later I felt my two other clones pop as well after they had no doubt collected everything that could be useful. Quickly perusing the new memories confirmed that I now had team badge 10 safely stored within my inventory. Another useful thing was that my inventory could be used by my shadow clones making them useful thieves. My inventory was so versatile and I loved it dearly.

With this new badge we had badges 10, 19 and 37 along with our own badge giving us a total of 6 points. We had everything we needed to actually pass this portion of the Exam so that just left our secondary objective of eliminating as much as the competition as possible. Being mindful of that fact I sent out three more shadow clones as assassins. I didn't care if they only killed one person on an opposing team or all of them. Either way they would be unable to continue.

With that done I simply resumed spamming sense chakra as my clones sped off. I monitored them until I could no longer sense them and then there was nothing but the quiet background noise rumbling throughout the cave. Settling in to wait for the results of my actions I kept using sense chakra and glanced back to where my teammates were sleeping peacefully. I sometimes wish I could just have a normal sleep schedule and I know the only thing stopping me is myself. Even though it can be mentally tiring never sleeping I just couldn't bring myself to waste all those hours that I could be doing something useful like right now.

Letting my thoughts drift as I sat there I was drawn from them sometime later once I felt the telltale feeling of memories being received from one of my clones. I sorted through them as fast as I could but was mildly disappointed that it had failed to inflict any lasting damage on the team it had found. The team had all been awake and as soon as I attacked they ganged up on me with a lucky kunai throw dispelling the clone.

Creating another clone I sent it off and the cycle continued for the rest of the night. Clones would be destroyed and created anew as they threw themselves at the opposing teams. Even the team that I hadn't been able to kill off in my initial clone barrage still ended up harried for the remainder of the night which I considered a win for me. Now they would be tired and more prone to making mistakes that could get them killed.

As morning dawned on the outside world and my teammates stirred I had gathered an additional two badges from one team, disqualified another and harassed one until morning. All in all a good nights work.

The noise coming from my teammates increased as they became more and more awake. Eventually Hina rose and I glanced over at her. She seemed to be staring at me although it was a little hard to tell with the mask on. "Shiro, why didn't you wake me for my watch?" Her voice was still sleepy but I could also hear a bit of anger forming as she spoke.

"You told us in no uncertain terms that you didn't want to be disturbed so I didn't disturb you."

"You idiot,' her voice was a hiss, 'I didn't really mean it. I'm part of this team so why did you cut me out of something so vital?" Oh crap, I didn't mean for this to offend her at all.

"If it helps I didn't get Shisui up either." I tried to make my voice as placating as possible.

"No, that doesn't help. Why would you do something so stupid as to stay awake all night?" Looking towards Shisui I saw he would be no help here.

"I would also like to know why I wasn't woken up for my watch?" Time to hedge I guess.

"I just wanted you guys to be as rested as possible for today and since I don't really need a lot of sleep I just stayed up. It won't affect me at all and you guys are more prepared for the day so it's a win in my books." Hina's glare was possible to feel through her mask.

"That's not good enough! We're a team and we all need to pull our weight or it might as well not be a team." Shisui was nodding along as Hina spoke. I really can't get why this is such a big deal but they seem to think it is so I'll just keep apologizing.

"I'm sorry I'm just used to acting semi independently or being on new teams often and that affected my judgement here." I paused for a moment and then continued. "Since we are on this topic I also have something else to mention." I pulled out badges 10, 12 and 56. "I was able to secure these last night as well as disqualify another team."

Silence descended between us and then slowly Hina's hands rose to her head to clutch it. "How?" I opened my mouth to speak but she cut me off. "No, I don't want to know. Just give me a minute." She stood up and marched away leaving Shisui and I sitting next to each other. I turned to him as he spoke.

"Did you leave us last night?" I shook my head negatively and he continued. "Were you in any danger securing those badges?"

"None at all. I didn't even move from this spot." He slowly nodded and then turned to pack away his gear.

"Then I have no problem with that but I do hope you include us next time. It's frustrating to be left out of the loop and then have things thrown at you one after the other."

"Sorry." He didn't acknowledge me and kept packing. Hina took a good ten minutes to calm down and come back over and in that time I had thought out what I thought was a good apology for them.

"Guys, I want to apologize for my actions last night. It was not my intention to make you feel unneeded or marginalized I simply saw a situation and capitalized on the opportunity that presented itself in the moment. I will also try to include you more in the decision making process when possible." I stood and gave them a bow. "I do want this team to work and I am willing to work for it."

I held that position until I heard Hina gruffly say, "Straighten up, you're supposed to be our leader." I did so and she let out a large sigh. "I'm sorry as well. I just didn't like the fact that you seemed to be acting like I needed to be protected from everything in here. I'm a proud kunoichi of Konoha, damn it, I don't need to be coddled by anyone. I know you're better than us or you wouldn't be put in charge of this team and the proof of that was getting three badges all alone when we were asleep." She paused and took a deep breath.

"All I ask is that you not act like we need to be babied unless we ask for it like during the run to this place." I didn't even have to think about that.

"Of course." I looked towards Shisui to see if he had anything to say but he just shrugged.

"Hina said everything I wanted to say. That being said what will we do now? We have enough badges to pass." While I would like to pursue the team I was harassing all of last night the last clone I had sent their way had met a veritable maze of traps leading to them. With that in mind we should forget about them and set out for easier targets.

"We eliminate as many of the opposing teams as possible as safely as possible. We'll move out after Sora's group as soon as you guys are packed up and we've had breakfast." My head tilted to the side before I said the next part. They did say they don't want to be babied but giving them food wouldn't count would it? "Is there anything you two want for breakfast?"

"Will it be like yesterday?" Hina asked with a hint of caution.

"Yep, but I won't have to do the chant again."

"I want fatty tuna sushi." 'Wow, expensive much.' I wordlessly pulled a platter out of my inventory and handed it to her before turning to Shisui.

"Do you have grilled fish with an omelette?" I did have it and I handed him a plate full of food as well. Pulling out a bowl of ramen just to have something to chew on while they ate I sat down on the ground and began to eat as well.

It didn't take long to finish up breakfast and I collected their plates to put back into my inventory while Hina stowed away her gear. Another half hour was spent dismantling all of our traps and then we were good to go.

"Alright we don't need Sora's badge anymore but still I want you to lead us towards Sora's team and if you see any team in trouble steer us towards them. It'll be slow and steady for the rest of this portion of the Exam." Hina nodded and after taking a few seconds to acquire where Sora's team was she set out with us close on her heels.

Hina seemed to be more conscious about when she needed to take a break as about every hour or so we would simply stop and allow her to rest before we continued onwards. It was around the 4 hour mark when she tilted her head and slowed to a stop in front of us.

"Something odd is happening to one of the teams near us. For some reason they all seem to be attacking each other."

"Hmm, genjutsu?" She shook her head.

"I don't think so. I can't see any other team nearby and one of them is dead now." She paused for a moment. "The last two are still fighting though."

Considering the place we're in its likely that they were tripping right now and something set them off causing them to fight each other. Still, it would be bad to just assume that so I'll shelve that for now.

"Do you want to check it out? I know they're disqualified now but they still have a badge that we can take to deny other teams from passing." Shisui and Hina looked at each other before they shrugged simultaneously.

"Why not? If it'll keep a badge out of circulation then we should go and take it from them." Hina didn't say anything and merely set out again after Shisui finished talking. We sped along and as we got closer to the team I could begin to hear bouts of mad cackling along with screams of rage coming from ahead.

"They're down to one man." Hina stated as we drew ever closer. "The final one is acting more and more erratically as well." I was tempted to ask what he was doing but other things took priority.

"Make sure you're masks are secure first before we get there and cover up any exposed skin as well as you can. This is probably the results of the spores but let's not take any chances." We kept up the pace as both of them complied with my order. Soon enough we were close enough that I could see the shinobi with my own eyes as we crouched behind a stalagmite.

The brown haired shinobi from Suna was laughing periodically while stabbing one of his kunai into the chest of his dead teammate over and over again. The surrounding area bore the marks of battle and I sent out a shadow clone to check for any new toxins in the area. Not finding any I started tapping on Hina's arm to tell her what I wanted her to do.

She nodded as I finished and with a blur of speed rushed towards the cackling shinobi's back while Shisui and I flickered to a good distance in front of him in order to draw his attention towards us. We seemingly didn't need to have bothered doing so as our efforts didn't draw so much as a glance from him as Hina appeared behind him to seemingly reach out and gently tap the back on his neck. He dropped like a puppet whose strings were cut to sprawl all over his dead teammate's body.

Walking over to him I reached down and felt for his pulse. It was still going strong and I glanced up to give a nod towards Hina. "Good job with him. Go search the other body while I take care of him." She started walking away as I rolled his unconscious body away from his teammate so Shisui could start going over his stuff as well.

Giving him a once over with mystical palms revealed him to be in reasonable health if a little low on chakra and as high as a kite. My original assumption that they didn't have any facemasks proved to be correct in this case so we didn't have to worry about a new problem yet. Finished with my assessment I stripped him of anything valuable and tied him up.

I felt Shisui and Hina come up behind me as I finished my work and I turned to face them. They each handed me a badge as well as a scroll containing the remains of the Suna team. Excellent, with this we had badge numbers 2, 10, 11, 12, 19, 37 and 54. So that's 8 teams out of the Exam counting the one where I killed a member last night. I knew of two other teams at the moment so that left 8 teams unaccounted for right now. Slipping the two new badges into my inventory I spoke up.

"We're off to a great start. By my count there's only 11 other teams left but there are probably fewer if the amount of screaming was anything to go by yesterday. You also don't have to worry about a new toxin just yet they were just under the influence of the spores."

They relaxed slightly and moved to start uncovering any parts of their bodies that were covered in preparation for the fight while I made a shadow clone. I handed it the two scroll and it bent down to pick up the unconscious Suna shinobi. "Hina what's the quickest route out of the caves from here?"

"Um, give me a moment. You need to go back down the way we came from then take two rights, a left, three more rights and then two lefts before you get to one of the entrances, why?" As soon as she finished talking the clone sped off with the Suna shinobi on its back.

"I'm just going to drop him off at the entrance for the proctors to find. Suna is an ally so we'll help them out in this regard." Her head tilted to the side and then she shrugged.

"That's fine I guess." I glanced around to see if we missed anything and not seeing anything important I spoke up.

"Alright, is everyone good to go?" Both of them motioned that they were ready. "Great, Hina lead us out." We set out after Sora's team again yet as the hours rolled by they remained just out of our grasp. In fact it almost seemed like they were reacting to us at times. My eyes narrowed at the thought and I called for a halt.

"Hina does it seem like they're anticipating our actions at all?" Even though her body language screamed tired she seemed to want to soldier on for the moment.

"Now that you mention it they have seemingly changed directions sometimes when we started down a tunnel that would lead them directly to them." I hummed at that as Shisui spoke up.

"How many times has that happened?" She paused for a moment in thought and then answered.

"I think it's happened two or three times." They definitely have some way to track us then.

"Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is an enemy action. They know we're after them somehow. Do either of you have any idea of how they're doing it though?" I looked between them and it seemed like they didn't have much of an idea of how they're doing it either.

"Maybe one of them is a sensor?" Shisui's voice was hesitant but it sparked the metaphorical lightbulb above my head.

"Hina, how far away is Sora's team on average?"

"Um, ah, I think about maybe 2 and a half kilometers away." I let out a low curse. If one of them actually does have a sensor ability that strong then we need to reevaluate our position. They could be the ones trying to hunt us as we hunt them.

"I know it's been a long day but I need you to go for another hour or so. I want to try to put as much distance between us as possible and see how they react." Her stance was weary but she still nodded. This time I went in the lead and sent out multiple shadow clones to the front as a scouting force.

We didn't encounter anything and after reaching what I thought was a reasonable distance we stopped once more. "Alright, this should do. Hina I need you to use your dojutsu one last time for today to find Sora's team." She went rigid for a moment and then let out a sigh.

"They're about 3 kilometers away."

"They're definitely following us then. They would have had to backtrack over ten kilometers to do that." So it's become a game of cat and mouse then. Hopefully we're the cat in this case.

"So now we know that they know where we are at all times just as they should know that we know where they are at all times." I blinked at that. The statement got a little bit confusing there.

"What do we do then?" I mentally shook my head and focused as Shisui spoke.

"There's not much we can do at the moment. Neither of you have learned the chakra dampening technique and even if you could learn it overnight I was told in no uncertain terms not to teach it to anyone without approval." My fingers beat a steady drum against my side as I thought about our options. "I suppose we could try to trap the areas as we move through them and try to catch them in a trap but I don't hold out much hope for that to work. Do either of you have any ideas?" They both shook their heads and I let out a sigh. "Alright then let's fortify the area and get some rest. It'll give us a chance to recuperate and hash out some more ideas."

They seemed amendable to that and the next hour and a half was spent making the area as secure as possible before we had a light dinner and both of them set up their sleeping supplies. I of course did not and they didn't make a fuss about it. We drew lots for watch and Shisui got first, I got mid and Hina got last watch of the night.

Settling in for another long night of shadow clone spam I noticed Shisui glance towards me as I was clearly not going to bed at all. "Don't worry about it." I straightened slightly as a new rush of memories hit me as my shadow clone dispelled. It would seem that the nameless Suna shinobi would live as I had left him to the tender mercies of the proctors.

With my newly recovered chakra I sent out three clones. While it would perhaps be prudent to simply send wave after wave of clones at Sora's team I wouldn't do it for two simple reasons. If they did indeed have a sensor on their team they would have no doubt sensed what I was doing last night and prepare for it accordingly. So I would be wasting time trying to rush a prepared enemy for little to no gain. I could try to dampen my chakra but I hadn't done so for the duration of the Exam and if it was discovered that I could do so by their team without me killing anyone of them I would be giving away a tactical advantage.

A light cough from Shisui drew me from my thoughts and I turned to him wondering what he wanted to talk about. "Would that be how you acquired those badges last night?" I took in his stance and could only conclude that he wanted to learn how to make the clones but was too polite to simply steal them with his dojutsu.

"Yes, it's a type of clone that sends its memories back to you when it pops but it splits your chakra equally between how many clones you make. It's another thing that I'm not allowed to teach you but if you really want to learn it just ask Jiraiya for it."

"Oh, are you sure you can't just let me learn it? They seem really useful." I sent him a mildly reproaching look which he couldn't see at all, damn masks.

"Yes I'm sure. It's technically classified as a B rank Kinjutsu just for the potential damage that could be self-inflicted." He visibly deflated as soon as I said kinjutsu so I tried to lessen the blow. "Like I said ask Jiraiya about it and he'll most likely say yes. If we pass the third portion of the Exam I'm sure that you could ask for it as a suitable reward."

He perked right back up again. "Thanks, I'll do that then." He settled back down to continue his watch and I simply spammed chakra sense once more. It was mostly silent between us as the time passed and occasionally I would remake a clone as it popped. Shisui's watch ended and he let out a huge yawn as he gave me a wave.

"Try to get some sleep even if you don't feel the need for it." Another large yawn. "I'm going to bed." I gave him a lazy wave as he passed me by. I wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon if I had anything to say about it.

My shift went quickly yet I felt a little frustrated at the lack of contact that my shadow clones were having. It would seem that the two day period had given everyone enough time to actually spread out from the initial starting point and the cave system just went on for kilometer after kilometer. 'Well it was either the fact that everyone is scattered or more teams have been eliminated than I thought.'

Still there was no use just guessing and I spent the rest of my shift just feeling the surrounding area for chakra signatures while waiting for an update from my clones. I heard the rustle of clothe behind me as Hina started rising from her sleeping bag. 'That was some fine-tuned internal clock if she forced herself to wake up for her shift.'

"Hey,' she spoke softly as she settled in next to me, 'was there anything unusual?"

"No, I sent out clones to scout for opposing teams but I couldn't find anybody near us except for Sora's group." I felt her chakra flow to her eyes and then she nodded.

"I don't see anyone near us either." 'Byakugan OP please nerf.' The thought almost made me snort. If anything needed to be nerfed it was me not that I would ever want to lose my hard earned power.

"You're eyes' are way too good." I could almost feel the smug aura that settled around her.

"Are they even better than a certain other clan's eyes?" Letting out a hum I pondered the question. Were they actually better?

"Based on what I've seen so far and do bear in mind I have no idea of all the capabilities of each. It seems to me that the Byakugan lends itself to a more supportive role in the team dynamic while the sharingan lends itself more to the offensive side. I don't even really know why your two clans are rivals. From my point of view it would seem like you have two very separate fields that your eyes lend support towards."

"Hey, the Byakugan can be offensive just look at our taijutsu. Anyways the Uchiha are our rivals because we obviously have the superior eyes but they keep yapping at our heels like dogs." The thought of Itachi running around barking at people made me smile under my mask. It would just be so unlike him I might have to learn genjutsu just to have the Uchiha run around yapping at the Hyuga. My thoughts were broken by a stream of new memories that came flooding in.

"Besides the-" Whatever Hina was about to say was lost as the ground gave a sudden heave as though a giant had decided to smash the ground with a hammer. Both of us gained a foot of air as we were launched off the ground but we both landed on our feet as we came back down.

"What happened?" Shisui seemed to have teleported to our side as the ground gave ominous rumbles. I caught up the most recent memories of my clone and I couldn't help but curse.

"Fuck! One of my clones spotted two teams battling and stayed out of sight to observe. One of enemy teams hit a pillar with some kind of jutsu and it exploded. Now the cavern is collapsing and we need to get moving now."

"Which way?"

"Towards Sora's team and away from the collapsing portions, now move, full speed ahead." We sprinted out of our resting area leaving behind most of Hina's and Shisui's sleeping gear along with our traps. There was simply no time to spare and even as we ran another clone of mine popped. "The cave is still collapsing and it seems to be spreading along the tunnels."

The ground shook again and I nearly lost my balance as we sprinted along. "Hina set a course for the outside. As long as we don't leave the cavern it doesn't matter where we are but I would prefer to fail and live than die pointlessly."

I dodged a falling stone as Hina shouted over the rumbling. "We need to take a left at the next split. I can also see Sora's team on an intercept path with us."

"What? Are they crazy? The whole damn cave is coming down around us." The rumbling noise increased and my last clone popped. Fucking hell this was bad. I created three more clones and had them dampen their chakra output while running along the ceiling. If they wanted to start something we'll finish it.

"Be ready for them then and go all out from the beginning. We literally don't have time to deal with this." They acknowledged me and as we ran along I could feel their team's chakra signature close in and then stop ahead of us. They weren't even subtle about it as I could see them standing together in full view as we came around the corner.

A small grin formed on Sora's partially covered face as we came into view. "Why hello there, if you could be so kind as to give us your badge-" That was a far as he got before he had to dodge my near invisible blades of wind along with the rest of his team. Each blade made a sizable slash in the ground where they were standing and my team sprang into action as I made a beeline for Sora, tanto raised.

"How rude. All you needed to do is hand over your badge and we would have let you go." He grunted out as my tanto and his kunai clanged together over and over again in a deadly dance as smaller rocks started to fall from the ceiling. "I guess you'll just have to die then." He said cheerfully as I felt lightning chakra gather in him. I tried to pull back but a jolt of light flashed between our blades and I felt my muscles spasm as the lightning ran through them.

Cursing internally chakra strings formed and pulled me away as fast as they could from Sora while I tried to regain control of my body. It wasn't fast enough and I let out a grunt of pain as his kunai lodged into my left arm along with several small senbon in my stomach. I ignored the ding from a pop up and focused on regaining control of my body as one of my shadow clones jumped forward to engage Sora.

"What's this? You can hide your chakra from me? What a little prodigy we have here." His smile turned into a grimace as I felt one of his teammate's charka flare and die. "How unfortunate."

"Hina help Shisui." I shouted over the now constant roar that surrounded us as I rushed back towards Sora my muscles mostly under control once more and the kunai didn't impede my left arm's movement too much for what I planned to do. He turned and shot out a stream of senbon needles from his mouth striking my clone and popping it to leave me alone with him.

I raised my tanto and as I got close enough a swirling blue ball of chakra formed in my left hand. I saw his eyes go wide as the rasengan formed in my hand and he swiftly tried to dodge before I could hit him. The suddenness of the attack and the close range were too much for him to fully dodge so he thrust his arm forwards in a desperate attempt to try to block the attack. The only apt description of what happened to his arm was it going into a meat blender. Bits and pieces of it flew every which way as my fully formed rasengan traveled every further up his arm.

Screaming in agony at the sudden loss he still managed to raise his leg and kick against my chest saving himself momentarily. Instead of trying to resist the blow I let it push me away and lashed out with my tanto scoring a line along his leg as I rolled backwards.

"Ah, fuck that hurts." I could feel his other teammate's chakra disappear while Hina's and Shisui's chakra remained. In addition my other two shadow clones popped giving me back most of my charka and the memories of the other two fights as well. Sora started as my chakra returned and then gave me a rueful grin. "I really underestimated you and your team didn't I?" He let out a chuckle. "If I'm to die at least I took out you as well."

I let myself focus on the popup for half a second as he said that.

 **Ding! Gained Status Effect Poisoned: Lose 50hp/min for 10 minutes.**

'Almost half my health gone and that's with my poison resistance.' Giving him my full focus once more I took in his sorry state. He was clutching the remains of his right arm with his left hand and his eyes were clouding over in either pain or shock as a trickle of blood ran down his left leg.

"You talk way too much during a fight." He didn't get the chance to reply as Hina appeared behind him to lightly tap him on the back of his head killing him instantly. 'Mental note to self, never try to fight a Hyuga to the death in close combat.' The ground made one last rumble and then everything became silent as a large amount of dust started to float into the air.

"Shiro are you okay? I heard what Sora said." I waved her off as she tried to examine the hole in my left arm that was left after I pulled the kunai out.

"I'll only be half dead by the time the poison wears out. What about you and Shisui? Are you guys okay? Can you see if the cavern is still collapsing elsewhere?" She didn't seem reassured by my words at all but I had other things to concentrate on at the moment. My hands glowed green as I placed them over my arm and stomach.

"I could be better." I glanced over and saw that Shisui had a large gash going from his shoulder down to his hip. Stopping my own treatment briefly I made a shadow clone to attend to him before resuming my own treatment. He hissed in pain as I made him lay down on the ground and then a sigh of relief as I numbed the wound.

I could hear Hina mutter something to herself before she spoke up. "I have good and bad news for you guys." Great.

"Give us the bad news first."

"The tunnels around us have collapsed so we're temporarily trapped here." I grimaced at that. I knew some earth techniques to move the ground around but it would take a long time to carefully dig out of here. "The good news is that I can't see any other parts of the cave system collapsing for now."

"Wonderful,' I muttered, 'at least we have that going for us." Letting out a sigh because it could have been a lot worse I continued. "I know some earth moving jutsu but what about you two?" Shisui shook his head while Hina nodded. "Great so where do we have to dig to?"

Hina went silent for about five minutes as she no doubt looked around with her Byakugan. "We have to dig 150 meters up and a kilometer South before we come to uncollapsed tunnels. There are a few sections of tunnels that didn't completely collapse but that's the nearest one that leads up to the surface."

"Okay, let Shisui and I get back to reasonable health before we get out of here. In the meantime could you scavenge anything useful from Sora's team?" She made to carry out my request before I had another thought. "Don't touch Sora at all. He might have trapped his stuff with poison." Nodding she moved away leaving Shisui and I to recuperate.

I finished first because I have a cheat like body and then I started working on Shisui alongside my clone to heal him up faster. It was a pretty simple cut but it was annoying having to constantly sweep the air around us free of dust particles so they wouldn't fall into his open wound and contaminate it. By the time I was done though the cut had been reduced to an angry red line that looked like it had been healing for weeks instead of 30 minutes. Removing the numbness from him I ran my glowing hands over him once more to check to see if I missed anything.

Not finding anything I gave him a pat on the shoulder and stood up. "You're good to go." He accepted my helping hand up and then looked down to see my work. He poked at the now red line before giving me a big thumbs up.

"Thanks for that."

"No problem. I'm supposed to be the battlefield medic and if I couldn't even handle that… well I wouldn't make a good medic now would I?" Giving a light laugh he pulled out a scroll as I made my way over to Sora's body. I was going to just search it but what I had said to Hina came back to me and I sent a clone instead. He had quite the variety of small bottles with various liquids inside them and his team badge which had a faint sheen to it that I didn't trust at all so I wrapped it in some spare clothe that I cut from his clothing.

With that done I stood up just in time to see Hina walking back over. That went pretty well all things considered. Sure we were stuck for the time being but we would make it out eventually and no one got too badly hurt. Now if I could just know what possessed them to think that this was a good idea in the first place. They all had facemasks on so it wasn't the spores and a quick once over with my mystic palms didn't find any traces of other drugs in Sora's system. Maybe Hina or Shisui would have an idea.

"Do either of you have an idea why they thought this was a good idea for them?" I asked and Shisui spoke up as he was putting on a fresh set of chain mesh with a new shirt as well.

"The one I fought used a variety of earth jutsus so maybe they thought he could create a shelter for them? Or maybe he planned to just take them along underground with the hiding like a mole technique?" He shrugged. "Either way it was a bad idea and even worse implantation of stealing our badge. I think they seriously underestimated us even though neither Hina nor I have tried to hide our clan origins and you've been showing off as well."

Humming in thought I placed Sora's badge in my inventory and then spoke up. "Well if everyone is good we should start digging our way out of here. I for one want to go right to the cave entrance and camp out there until this damn portion of the Exam ends. These caves seem a little bit too unstable for me at the moment." They both voiced agreement with my sentiment and Hina showed us where we had to dig.

Hina and I took turns slowly moving the surrounding earth into an arched tunnel out of our current predicament. It took the majority of the rest of the day as we wanted to be as sure as possible that it wouldn't collapse on us and the ground let out a few minor rumbles from time to time. As soon as we were free we had a unanimous agreement to just continue on and reach an outside exit which took the rest of the day. Shisui collapsed asleep almost as soon as we reached the cave entrance leaving Hina and I on watch. Pulling out a bed roll I put it over him and he curled up into it.

After that was done I sat down then leaned on the wall and looked outside the cave to the starry sky visible above. If I'm being honest with myself a large portion of me wanted to just leave this cave and sit outside under the sky but I couldn't do that if I wanted to pass so I refrained.

I looked over as Hina sat down next to me. We were silent for a while before she spoke up. "Would it be possible to take off my mask now?" My hands glowed green and not finding any spores in the air I nodded. She let out a sigh of relief and removed her mask for the first time in 3 days to take a deep breath of air. "That feels so much better."

I could see that she had bags under her eyes while her lavender eyes were bloodshot. I took off my mask as well and it was nice to feel the cool breeze from the outside flowing into the cave. "Do you want me to take a look at your eyes?"

"My eyes?"

"They look pretty bloodshot right now." Her hand reached for them before she thought better of it and then just huddled up, placing her chin on her knees.

"No, I just used them a bit too much in the last few days. They'll be fine."

"Alright." We sat in silence for a bit before she spoke again.

"Am I a bad ninja?" That was a bit out of left field there.

"What? Of course not. Where is this coming from?" She tightened her hold on her legs huddling into a smaller ball.

"I was terrified when the cave started collapsing." That's why she thinks she's a bad ninja. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

"So." I said plainly and she sharply looked up at me. "So what if you were terrified? You didn't start panicking and from what I saw you came out of the fight without a scratch whereas Shisui and I were injured in the fight." My brow scrunch up. "I guess that makes girls superior to boys then." She let out a light giggle that sounded just a tad hysterical to me so I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "Now that I've had some time to think about it I also think the Byakugan is better than the Sharingan."

"Hmph, I'm glad you've come to your senses." Her voice became haughty before she dissolved into giggles again and leaned into me more. "Thank you."

"No problem at all." We let silence fall between us and I felt her breathing get slower and slower until I could tell she was asleep. Creating a clone and having it pull a blanket over us before dismissing itself I looked back out into the starry sky.

Hours passed by slowly and when it was time I prodded Shisui awake for his watch with my chakra strings. He jerked awake as soon as I touched him and then looked over my way. I'm sure the sight of his face would have been comical to me but alas he was still wearing his mask. As it was he took a few seconds to process it and then he was up and about for his watch.

We didn't say anything to each other and simply sat there until the sun had risen over the horizon. As it did so I felt Hina stir and then suddenly tense before relaxing again.

"Good morning Hina." I heard her mutter something that might have been morning before she rose taking the blanket with her as she did so. I also caught what might have been a massive blush on her face before she turned away.

Not really willing to make a big deal out of it I simply handed out breakfast which we all ate quickly. As soon as we were done I felt the need to address the issue of what to do next with them. "Let me start off by saying that I have absolutely no desire to go back down into the cave. I could still hear it rumbling last night so it just isn't safe enough to go back down there. Honestly we got extremely lucky that the portion we were in merely trapped us and didn't crush us, so what are some of your ideas on what we should do next?"

Shisui had taken his mask off sometime during the night and his face scrunched up in thought. "I agree with not going back down into the cave. We have... how many badges again?"

"8 badges not including our own. I also disqualified a team on the first night as well so we took out 9 teams." He nodded at that.

"So we took out half the competition and the two teams that started the collapse are probably dead so 11 teams are out. That leaves 7 teams still in the cave and we probably have their target badge so they need three other badges. I think we could just sit here and let them kill themselves off." Hina seemed to agree as well so we spent the fourth day simply fortifying our position and sitting tight for now.

Nothing happened during the fourth day and night but on the fifth day we could hear a loud gonging sound resound throughout the cave signaling the end of the second phase. We had already packed away all our supplies and as soon as the gong finished ringing we walked out of the cave. Off in the distance I could see Aiko sitting under an umbrella next to a huge gong.

We made our way over and as we approached her she lazily waved at us. "Yo, it's the ankle biters from Konoha. First to finish again I see." She cracked her neck and pulled out a clipboard. "Well let's see here. You had team 35 as your target so show me what you got."

I was curious to know how she knew which team we were hunting when I never showed her the slip of paper I took out of the box but in the end I dismissed it as some sort of trick that I missed. Pulling out the 9 badges I laid them side by side in front of her and I could see her eyes widen briefly at the amount. "Careful with number 35. It has some sort of poison on it."

Her eyes met mine before she started to examine all of the badges. After a little while she set the last one down and wrote something down before nodding. "Team 44 passed with 13 points. Take a seat and wait for the other teams to show up."

We sat down in the shade of the umbrella and waited for the other teams to arrive. I would be happy if I never had to venture into a cave again but we had passed and the second phase of the Exams were done.

 **Age: 6 years - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 19 - 21% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,230/1,230**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 123**

 **END: 111**

 **DEX: 141(155)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 100(106)**

 **LCK: 20**

 **Points: 29**

 **Money: 221,546**


	23. A Month Off

**Author's Note: I was trying to find out the exact date for when Orochimaru left Konoha but all I could find on the subject was after Minato was announced and before the Hyuga incident. I'm still deciding whether or not he will defect with all these changes but it would have been nice to have a more solid timeline of when he did in canon. Anyways here's a chapter with a lot of character development and a touch of the Green Beast of Konoha because why not.**

Every hour Aiko would bang on the gong and each time she would bang on it an extra time to probably let the teams know that time was running out. After about 6 hours of waiting around she struck up a conversation with us.

"So I kind of expected more teams to come out by now. You seemed to be in the thick of it judging by your badges so what do you think happened?" I wonder if the no questions rule is still in effect? Eh, better not chance it.

"Some idiot used a large scale jutsu which brought a large portion of the cave down on our heads. We even got trapped for a while because of it."

"Hmm, so that was why the ground was shaking so much. Ugh, it's going to take forever to dig out the tunnels again once this is done. I'm so glad I won't have to deal with that." I wouldn't want to deal with it either after almost being buried alive. Aiko stretched out then banged the gong 7 times.

She sat back down and then gave me a grin. "You wouldn't happen to know what happened to one of our teams would you? We found him at an entrance with his teammates in scrolls and him knocked out."

"Yeah we found him after he finished murdering his team because they didn't take into account the spores. I thought it would be only courteous if we knocked him out and made sure he was safe as Suna and Konoha are allies."

"After stripping him of everything valuable?"

"A payment for saving his life." I shrugged. "Surely Suna isn't so concerned about material wealth that they would begrudge us that." She stared at me and then let out a chuckle.

"Has anyone ever told you you're a cheeky little shit?" I looked downcast and started doodling in the sand.

"No, but I've driven a few people to alcoholism. I don't even know why? My jutsus are always awesome."

"Jutsus?" I could hear the concealed interest and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah like this one." My tongue extended and I waved it at her before it sucking it back in. She blinked heavily once and then twice before a gleeful look overtook her face as I heard a thump behind me. Turning around I saw Hina laying on the ground beet red and giggling to herself. 'Pervert.'

I felt a pair of hands clamp down on my shoulders and turning around I came face to face with Aiko. "Kid, if you teach that jutsu to my boyfriend I'll name my firstborn after you." The intensity of her gaze made me numbly nod and she released me to skip back to the gong but not before flicking me on my forehead. "Oh and don't stick your tongue out at me again brat."

I rubbed at my forehead and everyone lapsed back into silence as we waited. On the ten hour mark a team stumbled out of one of the entrances. They looked like crap and they seemed able to walk only because they were supporting each other. Other than that they were all caked in blood and I couldn't see their headbands or faces underneath their masks.

They weakly struggled their way over and almost collapsed at Aiko's feet. "Team 5 did you finish your objective?" There was no pity in her voice, just disinterest.

"Yes." A rasping voice came from the one in the middle and they fumbled around their front pocket before withdrawing two badges to hand to Aiko. "Team 5 has succeeded hunting team 31." She took the two badges and then inspected them before writing something down on her clipboard.

"Team 5 has passed." As soon as Aiko said that they collapsed onto the ground and several chunin came over to start attending to them. I watched as the team was taken away before I heard Shisui speak up behind me.

"Do either of you know where team 5 was from?"

"Taki." I said distractedly as I saw a two man team come out of the caves. They failed then and I didn't pay much attention to them. Over the next two hours two more teams trickled in but they both failed to pass. After that Aiko banged the gong twelve times in a row before waiting for a moment. When no one showed up she shrugged and turned to the surviving genin.

"Alright then it'll be a two hour run back to Suna. Get your asses running." There was some grumbles from the few remaining teams but they ran nonetheless. By the time we arrived in Suna the sun had set and Aiko dismissed the losing teams before pulling us aside. "Team 5 will be told this when they wake up but you have a month to recover before the next portion of the Exam. It'll be a one versus one tournament and you'll each be paired with one of the Taki genin for the first round."

She clapped her hands together and then rubbed them. "Now that the official stuff is out of the way I'll be back in an hour with my boyfriend. I'll find you so don't bother waiting up." She vanished in a shroud of sand and I felt Jiraiya amble up to meet us.

"I heard you guys were one of two teams to pass. Good job." He looked us over with a critical eye before speaking again. "If you want anything special to eat it'll be on me tonight." I didn't have any preference so I shrugged and looked over to Hina and Shisui. They both looked at each other before Shisui suggested curry. She agreed and Jiraiya took us to an expensive looking restaurant with a private room just for us. Once we had ordered he turned to us and told us to tell him what happened down in the cave.

We took turns explaining what happened and a short break for when food came. When we were just about finished there was a knock on the door and I could feel Aiko's chakra along with an unknown person standing on the other side. Jiraiya gave a curious glance at the door before calling out to them. "Come in."

Aiko came barging through the door dragging someone who I assumed was her boyfriend. The man had a headscarf so I didn't know his hair color but he was dressed like a jonin and he was rubbing his head sheepishly as he was dragged in.

"Um, sorry to disturb but Aiko just dragged me over here to learn a technique or something that a kid promised her." Jiraiya looked between the bouncing Aiko and me before giving the guy a huge grin.

"Of course, I, Jiraiya of the sannin support your endeavor. Now Shiro, show the nice man your jutsu." The guy's eyes bugged out when he heard Jiraiya's name and then he focused on me as I stood up.

"I don't understand why Aiko wants you to learn this but,' my hands slowly formed the hand seals making my tongue extend from my mouth to wave at him before I ended the jutsu. 'Here you go."

"Ah, um, adult things, haha. How do you do that again?" I did it again and after several tries he got it right. He gave me a bow. "That you for sharing your technique with me." I waved it off.

"Aiko said she would name her first born after me if I did it." He gave her a sharp look and she shrugged at him.

"You'll be in the finals for the Chunin Exam right?" I nodded. "I'll get you something by the time you get back."

Aiko lightly punched his arm. "You big softy." He gave her a wink and a smile. "Before we go can you sign this?" She pulled out a familiar orange book and placed it in front of Jiraiya.

"Oh, a fan eh? Of course I'll sign it." He opened the book and signed it with a flourish before giving it back to her.

"Hehe, come along Kirito. We're going to do everything in this book." I've never seen someone look scared and aroused before. It was an interesting look.

"Everything?" He said faintly.

"Everything." She confirmed as she pulled him out of the room. I managed to catch a glance at the title of the book as they left and had to stifle my laughter. I knew why Kirito was scared now. I would be too if my girlfriend dragged me off holding a book about bondage.

Everyone was silent for a while after they left and then Jiraiya turned to me with a serious look on his face. "Never mention tonight to Kushina or that insane sensei of yours." I considered trying to get him to teach me something for it but in the end I decided it wasn't worth it to piss him off right now.

"Okay." He seemed to search my face to see if I was sincere enough before grunting and motioning us to continue our report. The meal ended and the next day we left for Konoha. The two days that it took to get there were uneventful and as soon as we arrived at Konoha's gate I said my goodbyes to Hina and Shisui before I jumped towards an ANBU that had gained my attention. They motioned me to follow and I followed him to a base where I could feel Kushina, Mito and Karin's chakra.

Opening the door I was greeted to the sight of Mito and Karin getting ready for bed. "I see my favorite little girls." I called out and was greeted to a cry of "Shiro" and a redheaded missile running at me. I scooped Karin up before she could hit me and settled her on my hip before looking over at Mito who seemed to be pouting at me.

"Hello there Karin, hello Mito, hello mom." Kushina beamed widely at me when I called her mom.

"You missed my birthday." Mito said without preamble.

"I know that and I feel terrible about it." I walked over and kneeled down awkwardly with Karin still attached to me. "It took longer to get your present than I thought it would."

"Present?" I took out the fan from my inventory and then snapped it open. "Pretty." She reached out to take it from me and then started opening and closing it over and over again.

"Oh, you look like a princess with that Mito." Kushina cooed at her. Mito beamed at her and then looked back down at the fan.

"So do you forgive me for missing your birthday now?" She looked up and her face shifted from happy to angry before settling on disgruntled.

"I guess." I'll take it. I straightened and Kushina wrapped both Karin and I into a hug.

"Welcome back."

"It's good to be back." I returned the hug as best I could before she stepped back and Karin pipped up.

"Shiro can you tell us a story?" Large red eyes stared right into mine. Ah, a cute attack, it's super effective.

"A story? Story, story story." Mito began to chant and I relented under their combined chanting.

"Okay I think I have a story to tell." Twin cries of joy came from them both of them as I gave into their demands. "But I think you need to be tucked into bed first." Mito darted towards a bed and ducked under the covers. I tried to pull Karin off me but she held on tight.

"No you have to stay close to me."

"Oh, I have to do I?"

"Yes!" She declared childishly. I thought about it for a moment before I decided to indulge her. Taking off my sandals I settled into bed with Karin curling up on my right side. Moments later I felt Mito settle in on my left side. Looks like I was totally forgiven then. Kushina settled onto a bed next to us with an amused smile on her face as she looked at us.

"Now this story starts with a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins…" Yes I totally stole the story but no one here would ever know that. I had just reached the part where the three stone trolls had been turned to stone by the morning light before Karin let out a large yawn. Dispelling the clones that were acting out the scene I said, "I think that's a good time to stop for the night."

They both let out weak yells of protest but Kushina chimed in as well. "Shiro is right. It's time for bed." Neither of them made to get up and I shifted slightly.

"Are you guys going to let me get up?"

"Nooo." I let out a dramatic sigh.

"I guess I'll just be stuck here forever then." They giggled and then let out yawns. I don't actually mind going to sleep now. It's been what? A few years since I've last slept. I keep on wanting to sleep and this is a perfect opportunity to do so. I settled in as I felt both of them drift off to sleep.

The last thing I felt was Kushina kissing my forehead and her whisper, "Goodnight Shiro," before sleep overtook me.

~Interlude~ Hina

I watched as Shiro jumped away from us to a waiting ANBU and my Byakugan activated as they moved further and further away. 'Is he an ANBU?' I almost dismissed the thought as it came to me yet something told me not to discard the notion entirely. It would make a certain amount of sense if he was but I was broken from my thoughts by Jiraiya sensei giggling and the sound of him writing something down.

"Ah, I can see it now. The uptight, yet perverted, clan girl and the cold, mysterious, clan less boy. They overcome adversity after adversity before they fall hopelessly in love. I just have to change the age a little bit and-" He let out a yelp and hopped comically on one foot after I kicked him in the shin.

"I'm not a pervert!" I ground out before walking away from him in a huff. Ever since I met Shiro and he took me to that Ramen restaurant that rumor has been going around. It had even reached my parents and my cheeks heated up as I remembered how mortifying that had been. My mom had such a smug look on her face as my dad handed her money after they had heard the rumor. It was almost worse than the sex talk I had been given at 8.

Even with my mind occupied it would seem that I had unconsciously walked myself home. Blinking and giving a solemn nod to the gate guards I entered the clan compound and made my way towards my house. Along the way I was greeted by several other clan members and I responded politely enough but excused myself soon afterwards. I really just wanted to go home and collapse into bed.

Reaching my house soon enough I slide open the door. "Welcome home Hina." My mother's voice called out from further inside the house.

"I'm home." I called back as I took off my sandals and proceeded towards where I heard her voice. Entering the room I saw my mother and father sitting on pillows drinking tea. They both gave me a smile as I entered and my mom gestured towards a third pillow.

"Come have some tea with us and tell us all about your Exam." I really didn't want to do this now but I sat down and waited for her to serve me before launching into my tale. It took two cups before I was finished and I left out some parts like me falling asleep leaning against Shiro because I had no intention of being teased about that.

At the end of it there was a brief silence before my dad spoke up. "That sounds like quite the harrowing mission. We're proud of you for coming out of something like that unscathed." A warm feeling spread throughout me at his words and I smiled at him. He smiled back and took a sip of tea before speaking again. "It would seem like the rumors of you teammate's power are true as well."

That sparked a thought from me and I spoke without thinking. "Is Shiro an ANBU?" The harsh glare sent my way by both of them made me shrink back.

"Hina, you should know better than to try to actively discover the identity of ANBU agents. What were you thinking?" I shrank further into myself.

"I'm sorry I just saw him leave with one and I spoke without thought." The glare lessened but it was still present as my mom spoke.

"Do not speak before thinking or the consequences could be far direr than a stern talking to." She leaned back and composed herself. "As for your question the Hyuga clan can neither confirm nor deny whether or not he is an ANBU agent." My eyes widened at that. She was practically saying yes to me but before I could fully adjust to this she continued on. "Regardless of that the clan has decided to pursue closer ties to Shiro as the Uchiha clan have been trying to do."

"They have?" I blurted out again without thinking and then blushed at my outburst. My dad sent a wry look my way before nodding.

"Yes, we've been able to find out that they've been rather unsubtly trying to catch his attention with a girl from their clan. So far that endeavor has been unsuccessful but he is friendly with the clan head's son Itachi and you do have another Uchiha in your team."

I blinked as I processed this before slowly asking, "Why are you telling me this? Do you expect me to woo him or something?"

"No, of course not, he's only 6 at the moment. We just want you to continue on as you have been and become a person he can confide in. It's entirely possible that your team will continue to be together even after the finals so maybe you could invite him to your birthday later."

"I see." I looked down at my now cool tea and sent a brief flare of chakra into it, warming it back up. Drinking the rest of it in one large gulp I set the cup down and bowed to my parents. "I would like to be excused. It has been a long day and I would prefer to rest."

"Have we troubled you by saying these things Hina?" I shook my head at my mom's question.

"No you have just given me much to think about and I would prefer to retire to think upon this in my own time." My father seemed to study me before nodding.

"Go then," I bowed once more and rose to leave but paused when he spoke once more. "And Hina, welcome home."

"It's good to be home." I replied and then left them. My thoughts were troubled that night and it took me several hours before I was able to finally go to sleep.

~Interlude Ends~

~Interlude~ Shisui

Watching in amusement as our sensei hopped around clutching his ankle I waited until Hina was far enough away to address him. "Sensei?" He stopped hopping and looked at me.

"Yes?" Mustering up my courage I asked him the question that had been burning away ever since I saw Shiro's shadow clones.

"Would you be able to teach me a jutsu?" He eyed me steadily and then started writing in his notepad again.

"That would depend on what justu you want and I'm letting you know now I won't just let you copy it with your sharingan. You'll have to actually work at it to master it." I pout at that but nod. I'm fine with putting in the hard work when necessary and I know that some ninja are jealous of our ability to instantly perform new techniques. That's part of the reason why we aren't allowed to simply copy allied ninja's jutsu without permission.

"I want to learn the shadow clone jutsu that Shiro used." He stopped writing completely before letting out a sigh and putting his notepad away.

"That's a dangerous technique you know."

"I know, Shiro told me all of the dangers from it." He hummed at that before motioning me to continue. I listed out everything that Shiro told me and he sighed again.

"So even knowing all that you still want to learn it?" Nodding at his question prompted him study me carefully before he seemed to make a decision. "Alright, meet me at training ground 3 tomorrow at 9 and we'll see about you learning the jutsu." Score! Internally dancing a gig I nonetheless heard him continue on. "If that's all I have to go turn in your report to the Hokage."

"That's everything sensei." He flickered away after a quick goodbye leaving me standing there alone. I stood there for a moment before heading off towards the Uchiha district. It didn't take me long and as I entered my apartment I let out a soft, "I'm home," as I took off my sandals.

The silent house didn't respond and I made my way inside towards a very special room. Opening the door I was greeted to the sight of an incense stick burning in front of a shrine and I smiled at the sight. It would seem Itachi kept his word about replacing it daily. My mood sombered quickly as I knelt in front of the shrine. "Hey mom, hey dad, I'm home." I fingered the wound I had received across my chest. "Safe and sound as always. So do you want to hear how my mission went?" I spent the next hour simply talking about how my mission but I cut myself off as I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." I yelled and I heard the door open and then close.

"Shisui, are you here?" A small smile formed on my face. It would seem Itachi came to visit.

"Yeah, I'm in the shrine room." I waited as he made his way over and then knelt down next to me. "Thank you for keeping the incense burning."

"It was no problem at all." His gaze flickered over me. "I see that you're unhurt." I let out a chuckle.

"Nah, I got a little cut up during the Exam but your friend Shiro patched me right up and I feel fine now."

"Truly?"

"Yep, I don't even feel it anymore and it's just a red line now. I'll go get it checked out tomorrow to make sure though." He nodded at that and we lapsed into silence for a while.

"Would you like to come over for dinner?" I tilted my head at that out of the blue question. I suppose it would be better than simply going out to eat.

"If it wouldn't be a bother." He shook his head.

"No, my mother wouldn't be bothered at all by it." I let out a cheerful grin and agreed. Saying my goodbyes to my parents I followed Itachi out of the silent house. Sometimes it's good to have friends.

~Interlude Ends~

 **Ding! You have slept in a bed. Both health and chakra are restored to full and all status effects are removed.**

I was instantly awake as per the norm now. It still took me a moment to identify the two sources of soft breathing near me. 'Ah, right I went to sleep with Mito and Karin curled up next to me.' Carefully moving my head around I didn't see Kushina in the room and as they didn't seem likely to wake anytime soon I settled back down to wait for a while. I suppose I could create a shadow clone and have it substitute itself with me but I was feeling lazy right now anyways.

A short while later a well-oiled door leading to a different room opened and Minato walked in. As soon as he saw me a wide smile formed on his face and his eyes seemed to dance with mirth. He started making hand signs at me and at the end I nodded slightly before he gave me a cheerful wave and left me trapped under Mito and Karin. Settling back in I processed the new information. Apparently my team and I had the entire month off to improve so there would be no team meetings or missions for this month. All we had to focus on was getting stronger for the Finals which I was fine with. I would probably see if Kushina could spare any time to train me in fuinjutsu or whether Saiko was available at all.

It was probably about an hour or so of just laying there thinking about things before I felt Kushina's chakra coming towards me. I glanced towards the door as she entered and mouthed, 'Help me' when she caught sight of me. She let out a snort but came to the side of the bed and started to gently shake Mito and Karin awake.

"Rise and shine you two breakfast is ready." There was a series of groans and grumbles coming from both of them but they didn't try to get up. "Come on girls your poor brother is being crushed underneath you." That got them moving slowly and as they stumbled out of bed I stood up and pulled out a new outfit to get changed into. Quickly changing I was still able to see both of them follow Kushina out of the room like a pair of ducklings and I followed after them as soon as I was done.

A breakfast of grilled fish and rice was laid out on the table as I entered and we all sat down to eat although the girls had more of a shove things near their mouth and hope it goes in approach. I simply ate the food quickly, but before I was finished Kushina spoke up. "So what will you be doing for your month off?"

Finishing chewing and then swallowing I replied. "I was wondering if you could take some time to continue teaching me fuinjutsu? If not I was going to go see if sensei is available." She seemed to ponder this for a bit before smiling.

"I don't see why I can't continue teaching you. I've hit a snag with the barrier seals anyways so it would be good to take a break from it." Karin looked up from her meal at that.

"Does this mean Shiro will stay?" I nodded at her and smiled as she gave a cheer of joy along with Mito. After that the meal was finished in relative quiet and afterwards I helped clear up the dishes before I made 3 shadow clones. Karin had a wide eyed look as her head swung between them. "You all feel the same."

Two of the clones went over to the corner and started practicing elemental manipulation while the third scooped up Mito and Karin to bring them to another room. "Yep, your brother is awesome like that." The sounds of their excitement was muffled as the door closed and Kushina gave me a wry grin before sitting down at the table and pulling out stacks of paper.

She suddenly turned serious and spoke to the seemingly empty room. "We're discussing clan secrets so could you please vacate the room for now?" Twin shadows detached from the corners of the room and left while Kushina slapped a seal on the table. I gave it a once over and nodded. It was a one way sound dampening seal as evidenced by the fact that I could still hear Mito and Karin. Taking a seat opposite her I pulled out my special ink and waited attentively.

"So far you've learned about standard ninja seals, barriers such as this one and a few specialized ones. You almost never make any mistakes on the simpler ones anymore and when you do you can recognize that you have done so. In recognition of this I've decided to delve into the next level of seals, curse seals." She pinned me with a look.

"Curse seals are wide and varied but the one thing that they all have in common is the fact that they mentally influence or physically stop someone from doing something such as the one under your tongue. Yes, I know about it and while I don't approve of it I understand the reasoning for it." She took a deep breath and then continued.

"Curse seals are also some of the most easily abused seals as they can twist a person into someone else's personal slave. I've seen the results of those types of seals and even been present for the execution of those who placed them. If I ever find out that you have done such a thing to an ally I will kill you even if it would break my heart." Reaching over she grabbed my hand. "You have to understand that this has been the law for my clan almost as soon as it was discovered and for a good reason. It is far too easy to become corrupt after having complete control over another human being and so anyone that uses these types of seals for personal gain will be executed."

I gripped her hand tightly. "I understand mom. I'll never use these types of seals unless all other options have been exhausted and even then I'll defer to a higher authority on the matter." She smiled at me and gave my hand a squeeze before pulling it back.

"Good. Now that we've gotten that out of the way I want you to try to create a curse seal that doesn't allow you to talk at all." I nodded and pulled out my brush. The rest of the day was spent focusing on seals and as night came I continued the story of the hobbit until both of them were asleep before slipping out of bed and leaving the base to go see Saiko. It didn't take me very long to get to the Root base and I traveled along its maze like corridors until I came to her door. I could feel her chakra moving about inside so I knocked and after a brief moment I heard her say, "Come in."

I walked in to the sight of her sweating profusely as she went through a series of exercises with heavily looking weights attached to her. "Hello Saiko, is this a bad time?"

She let out a grunt after what looked like a particularly difficult set before speaking. "No it's fine. I'm just doing my wake up routine and you're welcome to join me." Shrugging I joined her. "So what's up?"

"Ah, I just wanted to see how you were doing and know if you had any time to spare to continue training me before the Chunin finals. I can understand if you're busy though."

"I'm doing well and I might be able to make some time but it won't be every day."

"That's fine I just wanted some help with kenjutsu and physical conditioning. I feel like I'm hitting a plateau with the physical components because you guys won't let me wear weights." She let out a sigh as I brought up the old argument.

"You know why we don't want you to do that. It'll impede your natural growth and that will hinder you later in life." I grumbled but didn't say anything else and we went for another 30 minutes before she called for a break. "I can't train you tonight but I do have something for you." Walking over to her desk she pulled out a scroll and handed it to me. "In there is all the information we could get on the three Taki genin."

"That was fast." She smiled and ruffled my hair.

"Not really. We had more than a months' worth of notice which genin would be participating in the Exams and smaller villages tend to have weaker security than the big 5. Just don't underestimate them because they're smaller though." I nod and look down at the scroll. I can only assume they didn't show me other village's genin profiles before because it was a test to succeed even with a degree of the unknown. Now that I had passed that portion they were willing to give me more information on my opponents so I didn't fuck things up in front of a large crowd.

"Would it be possible to show this to my teammates?" She shrugged and grabbed a towel.

"Sure just be sure to destroy any copies you make. Now scram I need to take a quick bath and get ready for a mission. You can tell me all about how the first two portions of the Exam went later." I said my goodbyes and left after shoving the scroll into my inventory. With nothing else to do I left the base and traveled to training ground 3 for a night time work out under the stars. The night passed by and by the time the sun was beginning to rise I felt a chakra signature running nearby that stopped momentarily before heading my way. Stopping my workout I turned towards where the person was coming from and waited.

A figure jumped out of the tree line and landed nearby me. The man had a head of shiny black hair styled in a bowl cut with intensely thick eyebrows and a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers. As I was studying him he was doing the same before a huge smile formed on his face and I swore I saw a glint from his teeth as he gave me a thumbs up.

"Yosh!" He all but screamed at the top of his lungs making me want to cover my poor delicate ears. "Such a Youthful Fire to already be working out at such an early hour and at such a young age. I cannot be outdone by such a Youthful person. From now on I shall wake up at 3 and add 500 pushups and 50 laps around Konoha to prove my Youth. Thank you my friend for inspiring me by showing me such a Spring Time of Youth!" The obviously deranged man ran off shouting about Youthtm. As the screaming grew quieter I discretely pinched myself to make sure that what just happened was real and finding that it was made a mental note to workout inside from now on. There would be less chance of running into a crazy person there.

I ran, ehem, left the clearing behind me in favor of finding a bath to wash off the accumulated sweat and dirt. It didn't take long to wash up and put on new clothes and at around 8 I set out for Shisui's house first to show him the documents on the Taki genin.

As I got close I could feel his chakra up and about so I had no problem knocking on the door. At him yelling at me to come in I did so and took off my sandals as I closed the door behind me. "Shisui, where are you?" I called out to be polite as I didn't know whether he knew it was me or not.

"Shiro," his head popped around a corner, "What are you doing here?"

I pulled out the scroll and waved it at him. "I have some information for you regarding the Taki genin we're going to face." His face morphed from his confused look to an astonished one.

"You already have information on them. How?"

"I'm a time traveler." I deadpanned and he just snorted.

"Fine be that way. Give it here then." I handed it over and he unsealed the three files as his eyes turned red. He quickly scanned each one before resealing them into the scroll and handing it back to me. "Thanks for that even if you won't tell me how you got it." He paused as I put the scroll back into my inventory. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"I'm good I was just passing through and then I'll be going to Hina's place next."

"Oh, alright take care than." I gave him a little bow as I headed out towards the Hyuga compound and slowed to a stop in front of the two stern looking guards at the entrance.

"Excuse me could I see Hina please?"

"Name and reason for visit." The one on the left said as blandly as possible.

"Shiro, no last name, and team related." I thought I saw something flicker in the eyes of the guards as I said my name but I could be imagining it.

"Follow me," the left one spoke up and I followed along behind him along the grounds until we came to a moderately sized house and he knocked at the door. There was a momentary pause before one of the chakra signatures came to the door and opened it.

"Yes?" A woman who could only be Hina's mother opened the door. It was like looking at a mirror that showed a person's future as she had the same silky black hair and pupil less lavender eyes as her daughter with a willowy figure.

"One Shiro, here to see your daughter relating to team matters."

"Oh, of course, thank you." He gave her a bow and left. "Why don't you come in Shiro? My name is Hiroko Hyuga. You may call me Hiroko."

I gave her a bow. "It is a pleasure to meet the mother of my teammate. I do hope I'm not disturbing anything important with my impromptu visit?"

She waved it off. "No of course not. We have recently finished breakfast but I'm sure I could whip something together for you if you're hungry."

"No thank you I don't want to be a bother." As we were talking I had entered their house and I was removing my sandals.

"It wouldn't be a bother at all but if you're sure at least have some tea." I nodded as we entered the dining room and I saw Hina and her dad sitting at the table with the remains of breakfast spread before them.

"Please sit and I'll get your tea shortly." I gently sat down on an unoccupied pillow as Hina's dad stared at me. As his wife left the room he spoke to me.

"Hello there my name is Hiroshi Hyuga and you may call me Hiroshi." Giving him a bow I spoke as soon as I had straightened. He seemed like what you would expect a male Hina to look like but effeminate at the same time if that makes any sense at all.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Hiroshi." He gave a small nod as I turned to Hina.

"Hello again Hina."

"Hello Shiro." She seemed kind of distracted to me but I pushed on regardless. I pulled out the scroll and unsealed the three folders before handing them over to her as she gave me a curious look.

"These folders contain a decent amount of information on the three Taki shinobi that we will be fighting in the Finals." Her eyes widened as she glanced down at the folders and back up at me.

"Truly? How did you manage that so quickly?"

"I'm a time traveler." Both Hina and her mom let out the same snort before Hiroko set a cup down in front of me and poured some tea into it. "Thank you." I took a sip of the piping hot tea as Hina began to read through one of the folders.

"So we've heard a lot about you from Hina recently. From what I heard from her you were instrumental in passing the two phases of the Exam." I waved her praise off.

"I was merely directed the talents of the team towards their strengths. Without Hina we would have been lost in a cave like so many of our competitors." I took another sip of tea, it was really good.

"Now don't be modest I heard that you gathered three badges all by yourself." I tilted my head in acknowledgement.

"I did and immediately afterwards my teammates berated me for working alone. They were right of course. Konoha's strength lies with their exceptional teamwork and I disregarded that to make due on my own which just goes to show that I have much to learn still." Hina glanced up at me at that part but soon enough went back to reading

"That you can admit your flaws is what will make you a truly good leader." 'Why are they praising me so much?' I took a sip of tea to give me time to think. 'Are they beginning to court me like the Uchiha are? It would seem like the likeliest answer.'

"Thank you for that and as a leader I do have some concerns."

"Oh?" I nod solemnly.

"I noticed that your daughter fainted shortly after the second portion of the Exam was done for no discernable reason." Hina had gone very still at my words and the icy glare she was sending my way made the top three on my list, but I was too far into it to stop now. Both of her parents were looking at her with concern.

"She did? What happened?"

"Well I had just performed a jutsu-" I had to bend backwards to avoid a gentle fist strike to my forehead, "for the proctor of the Exam-" there seemed to be a murderous aura emanating from Hina as she did her level best to kill me and I calmly took a sip of tea while hanging from the ceiling to avoid her for the moment. It was a little tricky doing so but totally worth it. "Then as soon as I performed the jutsu I heard a thump from behind me-" A wordless cry of rage came from her as the veins around her eyes bulged.

"And I turned to see Hina slumped over on the ground beet red and giggling to herself." I adopted an air of naivety which might have gone over better if I hadn't been trying not to die from Hina's fists. "I just don't understand how doing this would make her pass out." As soon as I finished talking my tongue shot out in front of me and stopped a few centimeters in front of Hina's face. She went cross eyed looking at my tongue and then her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she fainted. I caught her easily enough and finished the last of my tea before looking back at her parents. "I mean sensei said it would make all the ladies pass out but I just don't know why?"

I'm not quite sure how I looked to them as I stood there with their unconscious daughter in one hand and an empty tea cup in another but they seemed far too stoic to be natural. Hiroshi gave a small cough before he began to talk. "It would seem that Hina has come down with a nasty fainting spell recently that's causing this. Why don't you let my wife carry her upstairs and I'll walk you to the gate." I let Hiroko take Hina from me and then gathered the folders to put in my inventory before following Hiroshi out the door.

We walked for a bit before he stopped at a gravely courtyard and turned to me. "Now Shiro the jutsu you used is a very powerful one and the Hyuga clan would pay you for the inner workings of such a jutsu." 'Ah good, I thought I was in trouble.' I tilted my head to the side as I considered the offer.

"Well, the proctor of the Exam told me she would name her firstborn child after me if I taught it to her boyfriend but perhaps we could exchange jutsus instead." He seemed amendable to the idea so I continued. "What would you consider a fair deal for such a technique?" He seemed to consider and I felt quite a few chakra signatures surround the court yard.

"Two low tier or one high tier and the gratitude of the Hyuga clan." I internally boggled at that. They really are a bunch of perverts to want it that badly.

"The two low tier please." He nodded at then motioned for me to watch closely. One second he was standing there and the next he was sinking into the ground until it swallowed him completely. Soon enough he reemerged without a speck of dirt on him.

"That was hiding like a mole now you try it." Alright.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Hiding like a Mole D Rank(Active(300(225)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **The user molds their chakra around their body in such a way that it allows them to flow through the ground like it isn't even there.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

There wasn't even a twitch on his face as he saw me perform the technique. "Good this is the next one." The ground rose around him and flattened onto him to form armor. "This one is called Earthen Armor."

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Earthen Armor C Rank(Active(750(562))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Grants the user a medieval set of armor made out of hardened earth. Decreases speed by the amount of earth packed into armor.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

I nod as the ground rises around me and let the technique dissipate before I look back up at him. "Alright here's how mine goes." I could feel the chakra of the surrounding Hyuga activate as I said that and I slowly made the hand signs then extend my tongue to wave it around before letting the technique fade. It took him several tries before he got it and when he did he gave me a little bow.

"You have done a great service for the Hyuga clan today. Please feel free to stop by anytime."

"Thanks, I'll stop back when Hina isn't in a murderous rage anymore. She never finished reading the folders for some reason." I think that was a little too much when his eyebrow twitched.

"Indeed. Shall I escort you to the gate then?" I nod amicably and he led me the rest of the way to the gate. Once we were there he turned to me once more. "I will inform you once Hina is in a friendlier mood."

"Thanks. I'll see you around." I gave a bow which he returned before I flickered away from the clan of perverts. Just a little bit less than a month before the Finals and look how much I've already accomplished.

 **Age: 6 years - 0 months**

 **Title: Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 19 - 21% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,240/1,240**

 **Chakra: 34,648/34,648**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 130(156)**

 **VIT: 124**

 **END: 112**

 **DEX: 141(155)**

 **INT: 115(121.9)**

 **WIS: 100(106)**

 **LCK: 20**

 **Points: 29**

 **Money: 221,546**

 **Skills Learned**

 **Hiding like a Mole D Rank(Active(300(225)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **The user molds their chakra around their body in such a way that it allows them to flow through the ground like it isn't even there.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

 **Earthen Armor C Rank(Active(750(562))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Grants the user a medieval set of armor made out of hardened earth. Decreases speed by the amount of earth packed into armor.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**


	24. Chunin Exams Final

**Author's Note: I'm back baby. First off I've written this entire story so far in just two months. That's 136k words in two months and I think it's because of that even though I know where I want to go with the story and I can see what's going to happen next in my head whenever I sit down to write it the words just start swimming in front of me. So I tried to write a different fiction, which is already up, and alternating between the two seemed to help.**

 **Now onto a question that's been bugging me. What's so good about the Mokuton(Wood Release)? It can grow trees and supposedly suppress demonic chakra but only one person has ever had it naturally so was it that special or was he just so good that it made it seem all powerful? *Shrug***

So it had been an eventful couple of days immediately after returning from the Chunin Exams but after that things sort of just fell into a routine. Study seals in the morning, elemental training in the afternoon, physical conditioning or kenjutsu with Saiko at night and then repeat. It was an easy schedule to fall into although I did have some variation and interacted with other people like Itachi who was doing well. I also continued the nightly story session with Karin and Mito because it was fun and they both cheated by using the saddest puppy dog eyes I've ever seen. I seriously stood in front of a mirror trying to replicate it although Kushina had just laughed and laughed when I said I was trying to weaponize it. Jokes on her though because I got this.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Puppy Eyes Active/Passive(F -** **S++ Rank) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Little old ladies will be more inclined to give candy to the 'cute' little child that you are. People may develop the need to suddenly hug you at higher levels.**

I could see it now. I would be standing alone against a veritable horde of enemies and as they raced towards me I would reveal my ultimate puppy eye attack and laugh as they fell before my cuteness… Slapping myself I looked back at the mirror. I think I might be becoming 'eccentric' like all the other high level ninjas.

After what I deemed my first psychotic break we gathered as a team to be told that we were to avoid killing the Taki ninjas if at all possible in the Finals. Minato had explained it as the strong being merciful to the weak but I think it was just because we would be on display for everyone to see and it would put Konoha in a good light to the masses. Of course the hidden villages would know what we had done for the first two parts but they don't pay us for missions so they didn't matter as much in this portion.

Other than that I hid from Hina for a good three weeks which turned out to be surprisingly difficult because of her cheating eyes. When we actually saw each other during the time that Minato had called us together to inform us of our mission change she had been cool towards me but didn't seem overtly hostile anymore which was good. As soon as the meeting was over I had thrown her several orders of mochi, her favorite desert, at her while running away yelling how sorry I was. Cowardly you say? I like to think of it as a discretion of valor.

A few days later she had sought me out and because I couldn't feel copious amounts of killing intent flowing out of her anymore I stayed to listen to her. 'Puppy eyes go.' She flinched slightly before she reached out towards me and I eyed her hand like it was a venomous snake until she started patting my head. "You'll be a good boy from now on." She spoke without preamble. "No more spreading rumors on how I'm a pervert or making me faint from embarrassment in front of my parents and we'll certainly never mention that to anyone, right?" I tried to take a step back but she followed me and her patting became more intense.

"Um, right." I said as my senses screamed of the danger in front me. Her eyes which had been dull and lifeless became sparkling and full of life as a serene smile graced her lips.

"Good, I would so hate to have to drag you off the Torture and Interrogation department for a full training course in interrogation resistance." With that said she turned and walked down the alley she had cornered me in leaving me to wipe some sweat from my brow. 'That went well enough. At least she forgave me or I think she did.'

My thoughts were confirmed when I encountered her next which was on the day we would leave for Suna. She acted like nothing had ever happened and she gave me a wave and a smile as I approached her. "Good morning Shiro. Ready to head out?" I thought about it for a moment. I had everything packed and ready to go but the two new jutsus' that the Hyuga had given me were only level 8 each. Apparently Earth techniques also had an experience penalty attached to them as well. Other than the slight disappointment from that I was good to go.

"Ah, yes I'm all set to go." Her smile was so serene that it set me on guard, but nothing happened and soon enough Shisui, Jiraiya and Minato, with an ANBU escort, showed up. Minato was decked out in the ceremonial robes and hat of the Hokage and he looked over everyone that had gathered before nodding.

"Alright, let's head out." We set out at a moderate pace that ate up the miles and in two boring days' time we had arrived at Suna. We were escorted to a much nicer hotel than last time, but that's to be expected when a foreign Kage is visiting and not just some random genin. 'Still it was a pretty nice looking hotel. The gold inlay on the marble pillars is quite nice, but perhaps a tad overdone.' While I was studying the architecture I felt a familiar chakra approach me from behind. Turning around I saw Kirito. He looked far more haggard than when I last seen him but he smiled as he greeted me.

"Hello again."

"Hello." He pulled out a scroll and held it out to me.

"I said I would get something for you so here you go." I unrolled the scroll to take a look at it even as I heard the ding. "It's a wind technique called slicing bullet. I think you'll find it very effective for a C rank jutsu." I rolled the scroll up and bowed to him.

"Thank you for the gift." He waved it off.

"If anything I feel like I'm underpaying you for the technique you gave me." There was a moment of silence as we stared at each other kind of awkwardly before he gave me a grin. "I look forward to seeing you compete in the Chunin Finals. Perhaps we'll meet each other there."

"Perhaps. Once more thank you for the technique." We exchanged several more pleasantries before he left and Minato walked up next to me.

"What was that all about?" I slipped the scroll inside my inventory through my pocket absentmindedly before turning to face him.

"Kirito's girlfriend Aiko, who was the proctor for the Exam, really wanted him to learn a technique I knew and he just repaid me by giving me a jutsu." There was a curious look on his face before it dawned into understanding.

"Just to clarify it's the one…" He trailed off and I nodded.

"Yep, it's the same one I taught you." Coughing slightly he looked around as though to check to see if anyone was close enough to overhear us.

"Right, let's not mention that anymore. I need your help with something if you're up for it." I motioned him to continue. "The Kazekage is having a dinner with the Kages plus one of their genin. He's bringing his daughter along and I want you to come as our genin representative." I didn't really even need to think about it before nodding and he smiled at me. "Great, follow me then."

"Do I need formal clothes for this?" I asked before we could leave. If we did then it would probably be better to have someone else go, but Minato just shook his head.

"It's an informal dinner so your clothes are fine."

Shrugging, I followed him to the center of the village where the Kage's tower had a commanding view of the entire village as it loomed over everything else. As we entered an attendant escorted us up to the second highest floor where the Kazekage, someone who I assumed to be his daughter, the Takigakure Kage and one of the Taki genin where waiting.

Minato gave a slight bow to the room's inhabitants as we entered. "I thank you for inviting us to this gathering. I do hope that we haven't kept you waiting at all."

The Kazekage waved it away. "Not at all. The Taki representatives arrived mere moments before you." He straightened and I took in his auburn colored hair and stern appearance as he motioned towards an adjoining room. "Shall we retire to the dining room where we can all introduce ourselves?" Everyone seemed to be fine with that so we moved one room over and sat down on the pillows provided.

As soon as we did so he spoke again. "As the host I shall go first. Please refer to me as Rasa for the duration of the dinner and this," he reached out and patted the blonde haired girl next to him, "is my daughter Temari." She was wearing a simple kimono and for some reason her hair was tied up into four separate bundles. She gave us a bow as she was introduced and then squirmed a little as we gazed at her. 'Couldn't be older than 3 or 4 really.'

Moving on though the people from Taki went next as the short brown haired man that was beginning to gray around the edges spoke up. "I am Hisen and this is Katsu our most promising genin." The younger man preened under his praise and bowed to the room. Katsu was around 14 or so with dark brown eyes and light brown hair with a focus on genjutsu and water elemental techniques if I remembered correctly. He would also be my first opponent tomorrow and after seeing him now I was more confident in my victory although I by no means dismissed him as an opponent. It wouldn't do to have an inflated opinion of myself and get wrecked because I underestimated him.

Minato gave a smile before he introduced us. "My name is Minato and this is my informally adopted son Shiro." I gave a bow as I kept an eye on their reactions. Temari didn't react at all except for perhaps confusion but Katsu's eyes narrowed and I'm sure that both Kages purposefully didn't show any reaction but calm indifference.

The door slide open quietly and several geisha glided into the room. I gave them half a glance before labeling them civilians in my mind. I suppose it's bad to simply dismiss them as such but literally everything about them screams civilian to me. One of them knelt down behind me and whispered into my ear, "Young Master, what do you desire to drink?" Several of the geisha were settling down in the corner of the room and pulling out lutes before beginning to serenade the group with the soft sound of their music.

"Green tea please." There was a brief pause before she set a filled cup of tea before me as the other geisha attended everyone else. Katsu, in particular, seemed to be entranced by one of the geisha slowly dancing to the music but I kept my focus on the Kages in the room.

Rasa took a small sip of sake before he spoke. "Truly? How did that come about?"

"Hmm, I suppose that would be because my wife gained him as an apprentice when he was 3. Then he wormed his way into our hearts even before my wife had my twin girls Mito and Karin." I took a sip of tea as Minato lied, but I had no idea why he did so unless it was to throw off Kusa from finding Karin.

"Ah yes, children of your own can be such a joy." He glanced at his daughter and a small smile grew on his face before it was replaced with sorrow. "I only wish my wife had survived giving birth to our third child." Everyone offered their condolences to him as the music continued to play in the background.

"Thank you for your kind words but we cannot become bogged down in the past and lose touch with the present no matter how painful things may be." Temari looked downcast at the mention of her mother and he reached over to gently pat her head. After that small display of emotion he turned to Hisen. "You must be very proud to have one of your teams make it to the final round."

"Yes we are very proud that Taki will be participating in the final round. Hopefully this will paint us in a favorable light to future employers." There was a pause in the conversation as bowls of miso were placed before us and we started eating. "In fact I do believe that Katsu will be fighting Shiro in the first match tomorrow." A sneer appeared on Katsu's face as he looked at me and I gave him a pleasant smile in return. The surrounding Kages appeared to ignore our little byplay as they continued talking.

"It is regrettable that Suna was not able to participate in the final round but I'm told that this Chunin Exam has had the most teams fail ever." Minato spoke up.

"Ah yes. The Caverns of Despair did indeed live up to their name this year. I do also have to thank your team for rescuing one of our own teams down there." Rasa spoke directly to me for the last part and I spared a glance at Minato to see if it was alright to speak. Receiving permission I set down my cup of tea before I spoke.

"It was only natural to help our allies. I only wish we had gotten there before they killed each other." I took a sip of tea before the next part. "Would you happen to know what became of the genin we saved?"

"Hmm," he tapped his fingers against his cup. "I do believe he committed suicide shortly after waking up and realizing that he had killed his sister." 'Well shit. That's fucked up.' "Enough of the depressing topics though. Let us talk of the future."

What followed was a long in depth discussion about trade agreements, tariffs, and potential military actions against Kumo if they broke the current truce between us. I just sat there and absorbed everything as the three leaders talked on and on even after an excellent assortment of sushi was served. Which was a little odd in my opinion but I suppose it showed wealth to be able to serve raw fish in the middle of the desert. I also kept half an eye on the geisha performers because they were quite talented and I've never seen a professional traditional dance before.

Eventually the dinner came to an end and after a short while exchanging several more pleasantries we left for the hotel. On the way back Minato motioned me to be quiet and once we got back to his room I followed him in to see Jiraiya up and writing something in his ever present notebook. He glanced up briefly before he slapped his hand down on the floor and I felt a small wave of chakra wash over me as the room was sealed up.

"So," Minato ambled over to one of the chairs and sat down. "What did you get out of that dinner?" I hummed in thought as I took the only other unoccupied chair in the room.

"Well I don't quite know why the genin were invited but the entire thing was one big show with the expensive geisha and hard to keep fresh sushi. The Kazekage also seemed quite eager to gain any type of guaranteed income but I don't know why."

Minato had been nodding along but Jiraiya was the one that answered me. "Suna's Daimyo has cut off most of their funding from guaranteed missions and outsourced it to us." I tilted my head at that.

"Is he an idiot? Even I can see that it would cause a decline in Suna's military might leaving them vulnerable to attack." Minato frowned at me before shaking his head.

"Even in a sealed room don't mock daimyos, Shiro. They might not have personal power but they can certainly pay enough to have you killed if they feel you've offended them." I ducked my head at his rebuke. It was stupid of me to do that and he was right to call me on it. "To answer your question we don't quite know why he has outsourced us all these missions but we won't leave our allies out to dry. Konoha might be strong but we can't take on everyone and win." He gave me a rueful smile. "Of course we can't just give the missions away so I'm thinking a 20% service fee to resell them back to Suna."

'That sounded like a good deal for us. All we had to do was be a courier service and we could pick and choose which missions to actually pass on to Suna, but it still didn't answer my original question.' "Okay, that sounds good for us but why was I invited along and why are you telling me all this?"

"Politics." Minato said succinctly and I frowned. I was hoping for more of an answer than that actually and his knowing grin wasn't helping. "As you go up in the ranks you'll have to deal with politics more and more often as higher ranked mission frequently deal with the nobility." He cleared his throat. "And as you're practically my son you'll have to deal with them at an earlier age as well. In fact tonight Rasa was presenting his daughter to us banking on that fact."

I felt like face palming but resisted with a titanic force of will and instead let out a sigh. "He was looking for a betrothal to tie our villages together wasn't he?" Jiraiya's not so quiet chuckling didn't help me at all.

"Yes, but I'm letting you know I would never force you to take such an offer unless there was no other choice. Kushina would probably kill me if I did." He shivered theatrically. "If that's everything though why don't you get some sleep or whatever it is you do when everyone else is asleep."

Almost done, but not quite. "I do want to know what was up with Mito and Karin but you don't need to answer if it's important."

"Ah that." He shrugged. "It was a small lie that people can direct their searches towards when they discover it instead of something bigger. Good job on not reacting to it though."

"Bait and hook strategy then?" He just gave me a small smile and then sent me on my way. The seal faltered as I crossed it but returned to full strength as soon as I was fully out of the room. It didn't take long to get to our team's room and both Hina and Shisui were sleeping when I entered. Of course they woke up from me coming in but went back to sleep quickly enough after verifying that it really was me. I settled onto a bed after a rushed apology for waking them and spent the rest of the night meditating.

Everyone was up early the next morning and after a quick breakfast we showed up to the arena where the final exam would take place. The first thing that came to mind when I saw it was the Roman Coliseum except for the fact that it was sunken into the earth so the top level was at ground level and the pit was lower. The actual field where we would be fighting was mostly sand with quite a few jutting spires of rocks littered about.

We were the first ones there but soon enough the Taki team filed into the waiting area and settled into a corner away from us. Ignoring them as they ignored us was easy enough and slowly the masses trickled into the seats above us. After about 2 hours or so a loud gong resounded throughout the village and we leapt down to the ground to stand in front of Aiko.

The crowd quieted as the Kazekage strode to the front of his box, in full ceremonial gear, and raised his hands. "People of Suna and our honored guests here today. I welcome you to the first Chunin Exam since the cessation of hostilities brought upon us by the Third Shinobi War." There was a short pause as the crowd roared in approval. "Today these 6 young ninja will compete for the honor of becoming Chunin. May the best ninja win." He took a step back and Aiko motioned for Katsu and I to step forward. We did so as our teammates went back to the waiting area.

"On my left we have Katsu of Taki and on my right we have Shiro of Konoha." Her voice seemed to cut through the background noise of the crowd as she announced us. "The fight will continue until one of you is unable to continue, forfeits or death. If I tell you to stop fighting you'll do so unless you want a broken leg." She looked between us and seeing that we were on the same page she took a step back. "Bow to the Kages and to each other then I will start the fight."

'We who are about to die salute you.' A cynical portion of my mind supplied me as I bowed twice. "Katsu versus Shiro, match begin." Aiko jumped back as Katsu ripped open a scroll which began spewing water everywhere. 'Smart of him really, but it also helped me as well.'

Earthen armor surrounded me as I rushed towards him tanto raised. Watery bullets were sent my way to slow me down and I dodged them easily enough. The one that barely clipped me cracked my armor but it was repaired soon enough and I continued my charge. He hadn't been doing nothing while I had dodged though and I felt his chakra flare before he started strafing to my right.

Since nothing had happened it must have been genjutsu but I continued running forward as though I didn't see him and threw in some dodging just for the heck of it. Seemingly satisfied that his genjutsu was working Katsu stopped and started gathering a massive amount of chakra. Recognizing the technique I let him continue and a huge watery dragon appeared in front of him.

I have to give him props for that. Learning an A rank jutsu is hard for normal people. With a gesture the dragon soared at me and with a crash it slammed into me. Katsu kept up the jutsu for a few more seconds and the water lost cohesion as it fell to the ground, also revealing my cracked armor lying in a crater. He cautiously made his way over to the crater and then stumbled as my hands, glowing blue, shot from the ground to cut both of his Achilles tendons. My hands disappeared back underground as he fell to his knees and I resurfaced a good distance away.

"I've severely limited your mobility, do you surrender?" He snarled at me and tried to rise but fell back down almost immediately.

"Fuck! Why was I beaten by a brat like you?" I gave him a shrug and repeated my question. I could see his frustration but hesitantly he surrendered. The clone in the armor dispersed and with nothing holding it together the armor collapsed.

"Winner, Shiro of Konoha. Would Shisui Uchiha of Konoha and Naoki of Taki please enter the arena?" Several medics came to take Katsu away and I gave Shisui a nod as I passed him on my way back up to the viewing area.

"Good job." Hina commented as I appeared next to her.

"Thanks. It went easier than I expected it to actually."

"Careful, your ego is showing."

I let out a whistle. "Wow it must be huge if a Hyuga is commenting on it." She only sent me an annoyed look before focusing on the match below and I did so as well. Shisui stood facing Naoki as Aiko talked to them. Naoki himself wasn't that impressive looking with half lidded eyes as though he had just gotten out of bed and messy black hair with odd tattoo lines on his face. He was also an Earth elemental specialist with an additional specialty in taijutsu if his file was correct.

The match began and he immediately donned the same earthen armor I wore, the copycat. Shisui let loose with a lightning jutsu I didn't know and then with a puff of smoke there were two of him. 'So he did learn the shadow clone technique. Good for him.' Both of them began flickering around Naoki as lightning flowed through their swords causing chunks of earth to fly off of Naoki as he desperately dodged. It was like watching a cat and mouse really and it ended abruptly as Naoki let out a stream of earthen bullets towards neither of the two Shisuis and was skewered by both two swords in return.

Medics rushed in as soon as he surrendered and I think he'll make it because both of the stabs were through his stomach and although it would be painful it wasn't immediately fatal. "Go get him." I softly called out as Hina left. She only acknowledged me with a nod and I congratulated Shisui on his victory as he returned.

"Hina Hyuga of Konha and Saburo of Taki, match start." Either he was an idiot or he just didn't know about the Hyuga's taijutsu because he rushed straight for her. She settled into her stance and as he entered her range she struck. With a cry of "Eight Trigrams One Hundred and Twenty Eight Palms" her fists blurred with speed and Saburo skidded to a stop in front of her before falling to the ground.

"Winner Hina Hyuga." 'That was kind of sad really.' I watched as he was taken away and Aiko spoke quietly to Hina before stepping back.

"Will Shisui Uchiha please enter the ring?" Shisui dropped down to the ground and faced Hina. "Hina Hyuga and Shisui Uchiha of Konoha, match start." Shisui did the sensible thing and leapt backwards as he shot a fireball towards Hina. She thrust her palm towards the fireball and it dissipated. My brow furrowed at the display but I got it when she thrust her palm again and I felt a mass of chakra shoot out of her palm to barely miss Shisui as he twisted away from it.

What followed next was a series of probing strikes by Shisui using kunai and shuriken which Hina swatted out of the air with contemptuous ease. Seeing that his approach wasn't working he created a shadow clone and sent it in while he started bombarding the area with a combination of fire and lightning jutsu. Hina just stood there until the clone got close enough and then she started spinning in place until a vortex of chakra formed around her destroying the clone and blocking Shisui's ranged attacks.

Coming out of her spinning defense Hina launched herself at Shisui as he retreated. Before he could fully escape though she slammed her hand down on the ground and a black grid spread out from her palm. Shisui let out a scream as it overtook him and tumbled to the ground seemingly temporarily paralyzed by the technique. Capitalizing on her advantage she sprung forward and a few strikes knocked Shisui unconscious.

"Winner Hina Hyuga of Konoha. There will be a thirty minute break before the final fight will commence. Please feel free to place your bets at one of our credited brokers."

I shouldn't feel surprised by the fact that people are betting on us but I didn't think it would be so blatant. 'Eh, I wonder if I could bet on myself? Probably not.' Hina jumped back up next to me and I could see she looked a little sweaty after her fight.

"Congratulations on your fight. I especially liked it when your first opponent suicided himself against you, but your win against Shisui was well fought."

"Hmph," she stuck her nose up in the air. "It was only natural that an Uchiha would fall to a Hyuga. You'll be next of course."

"If you're so sure of your victory would you like to make a bet?"

"A bet? What would be the wager?" I grinned.

"I don't know why don't you make one up?" She looked thoughtful for a minute before grinning.

"If I win you have to kneel before me and kiss my feet as you proclaim me to be the best."

"Kinky." I muttered under my breath.

"Wait wha-"

"If I win do you want to go to a tea ceremony together? I've developed an interest in them but I don't want to go alone." I totally cut her off and for some reason she blushed.

"Like a date?"

'Puppy eyes go.' I tilted my head to the side as I regarded her. "What's a date?" She twitched as she caught sight of my eyes but shook it off.

"Never mind. I accept the bet." Turning the puppy dog eyes off I smiled.

"Great. It'll be fun going to a tea ceremony." She huffed but didn't rise to the bait and we spent the rest of the time waiting for the intermission to end. With five minutes to go a gong rang out alerting everyone that the action was about to start again and on the second ring both of us jumped down into the arena.

"For our Final Match we have Shiro and Hina Hyuga of Konoha. Ready, set, go."

As soon as Aiko finished speaking my chakra strings shot out and it seemed like I flew into the sky from a stand still until I topped off at about 15 meters above the ground.

"Oh come on, that's totally cheating you bastard. Come down here and fight me like a man." I smiled down at the fuming Hina.

"I like to call it a tactical advantage." Her reply was an invisible wave of chakra that cut through several strings as I pulled myself to the side. I reestablished them immediately and then formed two shadow clones. Each of us started a jutsu and I saw her eyes widen as three different elements came barreling down at her. Of course I underpowered them. I didn't want to hurt her too badly and at this point Konoha had already won so from now on it was all about showmanship.

She spun in a circle and another dome of chakra covered her from my attacks. No matter, I kept up the barrage of jutsu with my two clones as I pulled out several kunai and attached a seal to each of them. With that done I threw them in a circle around her before shielding my eyes. There was an incredibly loud bang and when I opened my eyes to see Hina on the ground vomiting violently and blinking rapidly I knew it had worked. 'It would seem that my flashbang seal is a success.'

It paid to be cautious though and I sent a clone down to land behind her. As soon as it did so it tapped the back of her neck with its tanto. As soon as it did so I heard Aiko call out, "Winner, Shiro of Konoha." Dispelling my clones I landed next to Hina and cautiously grabbed her shoulder. Taking it as I good sign that she didn't immediately attack me I started performing mystical palms to help her recover.

It took half a minute to get her coherent again and as soon as she was she lightly punched my shoulder. "That was a cruel trick." I shrugged and helped her stand as the crowd cheered above us.

"I couldn't think of any other way to fight you so I had to resort to tricks." Out of the corner of my eye I saw the rest of the chunin hopefuls, minus Naoki, make their way over to stand in front of the Kage box in a line. The crowd quieted down as the Kazekage moved forward once more.

"We have our champion, Shiro of Konoha." The roar was deafening and he let it continue until it died down naturally. "We thank you for coming to witness this event and wish you a pleasant day." He stepped back and the crowd shifted as people began to leave. I saw Jiraiya waving from a spectator box and after gaining my team's attention we moved over to him.

"Great job you guys. That was an excellent showing out there." He clapped each us on our shoulders. "Do you all have everything packed?" We nodded and followed him to the Kage booth where Minato and Rasa were talking quietly. As we approached Minato stood up and gave a slight bow to Rasa.

"Thank you for hosting this event. I'll have the papers drawn up as soon as I return to Konoha." Rasa stood as well and gave a deeper bow.

"No thank you for your generosity." Minato gave him a smile and then walked over to us as our ANBU appeared at his side. "Everyone hold on, alright?" We did so and then there was a feeling of weightlessness as we disappeared from Suna and landed next to the North gate of Konoha.

 **Ding!**

 **Quest Complete A Chunin Exam Champion**

 **Konoha is counting on your team to show off the power that Konoha holds even after the devastating Kyuubi attack. Show the world that Konoha is still strong by blowing through the competition and winning the Exam. There will be repercussions if your team fails to make it to the final round.**

 **Rewards: 10,000xp, 80,000ryo, Invisibility Jutsu, rank of Chunin, Title upgrade Rookie Root Shinobi**

 **Rookie Root Shinobi - Root Shinobi – When equipped grants a 40% increase in stealth**

I wasn't able to look over everything before Minato started speaking to us. "I'm very proud of each and every one of you. Take the rest of the day and tomorrow off and we'll meet in two days to discuss your promotion and the possible continuation of your team as a whole. Dismissed." He started to walk away and the devil on my shoulder urged me to do what I did next.

"So Hina." I said loudly. "When do you want to go on our date?"

"What!?" Shooting her a hurt look I continued.

"You know, our bet to go to a tea ceremony if I won. You called it a date?" I swear I saw steam coming out of her ears as she turned red. It probably wasn't helping that all the surrounding ninja were not so unobtrusively listening in. Minato had even paused mid step to listen in. 'Gossiping hens the lot of them.'

I had to quickly dodge a fist aimed at my head from Hina. "I told you to quit embarrassing me in front of other people." She roared and charged after me as I started running away.

"I don't understand. What did I do wrong?" I wailed as I ran as though the hounds of hell were on my tail. 'It's good to be home.'

 **Age: 6 years - 1 month**

 **Title: Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 23 - 41% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,260/1,260**

 **Chakra: 38,000/38,000**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 133(159.6)**

 **VIT: 126**

 **END: 114**

 **DEX: 143(157.3)**

 **INT: 117(124)**

 **WIS: 104(110)**

 **LCK: 20**

 **Points: 49**

 **Money: 301,546**

 **Skills Gained**

 **Puppy Eyes Active/Passive(F -** **S++ Rank) LVL 4 – 30%**

 **Little old ladies will be more inclined to give candy to the 'cute' little child that you are. People may develop the need to suddenly hug you at higher levels.**

 **Skills that changed**

 **Fuinjutsu Foundations 86 - 89**

 **Kenjutsu Adept 3 - 7**

 **Earth Armor 1 -8**

 **Hiding like a Mole 1 - 8**

 **Yin Manipulation 26 -35**

 **Yang Manipulation 26 - 35**

 **Foot Note: Wow I was so happy about finishing this chapter I made quite a few errors that I had to go back and fix because I just wanted to get a new chapter out. Thank you for those who pointed them out. Also I can see the review count going up but the new reviews aren't displayed on the website for some reason. I still receive an email but I don't know why that feature isn't working right now.**


	25. Revelations

**Author's Note: The reviews are showing up now so that's great. I want to thank Some Guy In An Ambulance for his long and descriptive explanation as to why the mokuton is such a powerful bloodline as well as those who weighed in as well on the subject as well. I was focusing more on just the fact that other bloodlines can do similar things and neglected to consider the battlefield control part of it as well as its versatility.**

 **Also this chapter talks a bit about transplanting bloodlines and I want to assure everyone that Shiro will** **Never** **have the mokuton, sharingan, byakugan or the Rinnegan unless he acquires them after defeating Kaguya at which point it probably wouldn't even matter anymore. I just feel that there are enough fictions out there with any one of those combinations and I don't want to saturate it any more than it already is. That being said he could acquire a different bloodline but that's still up in the air at the moment.**

 **Thanks for reading and enjoy.**

It took an hour or so before Hina had calmed down enough to stop chasing me and after that I took to wandering the village for a bit looking for a good tea house to go to a tea ceremony. I found one that seemed decent enough called the Joukeian and went into it. The atmosphere within was very peaceful and I saw a receptionist sitting behind a desk studying me. As I made my way over she bowed. "Welcome honored guest. How may I help you today?"

"I was wondering what times are available for a tea ceremony and how much it costs per person."

"Of course sir." She picked up a sheet of paper and slide it across her desk so it was in easy reach for me. "On there you will find all our services provided. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have." I picked up the paper and quickly read through everything on it. After that I set it down and considered it for a moment.

"If you were to recommend one of these services to someone who has never experienced a tea ceremony before which would you recommend?"

"Either the morning or afternoon informal tea ceremony which would take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and would serve thin tea." I hummed in thought before nodding decisively.

"Alright. Would I need a reservation for this or do you accept walk ins?"

"Walk ins are welcome for the informal ceremony but not for the formal one. It would be better to reserve the time slot just to be sure that it is available for you though."

'Makes sense.' "Great, I'll be back after I coordinate with my friend."

"Of course. Have a pleasant day." She bowed to me and I gave a small one back before I exited Joukeian and saw Jiraiya leaning against the side of the building waiting for me. I made my way over to him when he waved at me and as I approached he stopped leaning against the wall and straightened up.

"I owe you a jutsu now." He said cheerfully and my mind blanked before it clicked.

"The invisibility one?" I couldn't help the note of glee that entered my voice at the thought.

"Yep, I'm a man of my word. Follow me then." We both flickered away and ended our journey in one of the many training fields surrounding Konoha. "Alright watch closely now. I call this the Transparent Escape Technique." He slowly made the required hand signs and right before my eyes disappeared. I could still vaguely sense that he was in front of me through my chakra sense but other than that it was like he wasn't there at all. He dropped the technique and stood before me. "Now you try. Don't worry about it being perfect though."

I made the required hand signs and the ding came up.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Transparent Escape Technique(Active A rank(200(150)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **This technique forms a coat of chakra over the user's body that bends light to make it seem as though nothing is there.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

To me it looked like a haze had settled around my body and as I tried moving around the haze cleared. Realizing that it would be better to witness this from an outside perspective I dropped the technique and created a clone who reapplied it. When the clone wasn't moving it was like nothing was there at all but as soon as it did there was a very visible shimmer in the air not unlike a heat wave. It needed work but I was confident that I could fix that with practice. I turned back to Jiraiya and gave him a bow.

"Thank you for sharing this jutsu with me." He waved it off.

"I said I would and you seemed to have found its limitations quicker and less painfully than I did. It can improve with practice though." He grimaced as though remembering something horrible and considering him he was probably doing something perverted beforehand. "Nevertheless I have to go coordinate some things with Minato so if there's nothing else…" I shook my head. "Great. Ah, but before I go though." He gave me a goofy grin and a big thumbs up. "Have fun trying to explain that you have a date to Kushina."

He flickered away as my eyes widened. 'I think I just played myself.' I slumped down onto the grass as I considered my options. Going rogue seemed like the best option at the moment but I'm sure Saiko would just drag me back. I let out a groan as I realized I would have to explain it to her as well. 'Stupid, stupid fool. Too smart for your own good indeed.' My self-pity fest ended quickly as a wave of calm swept over me and I relaxed.

Whatever will happen, will happen, and there's nothing I could do about it. For now I have two new justus to work with including the scroll I received from Kirito and I never finished reading the quest rewards screen. Deciding to go with the jutsu first I pulled that out of my inventory and 'ate' the knowledge.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Wind Bullet( Active C rank(250(154))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Air is condensed and shot out of the user's mouth at high speeds. Upon impact the bullet will shred the target with high speed slashes of wind.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

Pretty similar to my wind blades if I'm being honest but most of my wind techniques slash the target and having more variety is always welcome. Putting that to the side for the moment I read the complete message for completing the Chunin Quest and whistled at the results. 4 levels, the invisibility jutsu which I just got, and a rank up along with some money. Pretty good haul for a quest reward.

I was about to close the quest screen until a quest in progress caught my eye. 'Kaguya.' I mused as I looked over the quest and its extravagant rewards. Why does that name seem familiar and why does it fill me with dread? My fingers drummed a steady beat on my knee as I half glared at the blue screen. Going by the timestamp for the quest I received it mere hours after reincarnating but I didn't have a perfect memory until two years later so it was a bit fuzzy thinking back that far.

My brow furrowed as I thought back. I remember seeing chakra instead of mana and thinking Naruto. Naruto? Another name that feels familiar. Didn't I call Kushina the mother of Naruto and didn't I know who Danzo was before he introduced himself? Why would I do that? Unless…

 **Ding! For finally realizing that parts of your memory have been erased take +1 INT and +1 WIS. It only took you 5 years. Idiot.**

I stared blankly at the screen for what felt like hours before I blinked heavily. I didn't feel anger or fear at this revelation but a burning need to know why? Why would whomever took my memories leave me with enough clues to piece it together? I could be fairly confident that I wasn't being influenced mentally because the skill Gamer's Mind would take care of it so why would my memories of this world be removed? Because that's the only reason I could think of to why I knew some people's names before they were even introduced or this quest that was sitting here gathering dust. Sitting there I had a moment of clarity. I had selected yes to play a game of life, but if I was the game master I would remove any foreknowledge the player had of the game.

 **Ding! Gained +3 INT.**

A self-deprecating smile formed on my face. What a joke. My life as a game to amuse others yet I wasn't mad at the fact and not just because Gamer's Mind was keeping me calm. I had selected yes and been reborn. My actions thus far were still my own and as long as they stayed that way trying to blame an unseen force for my problems would be weak and the weak die here.

I stood up and blinked at the failing light. Apparently I had stared at the screen for hours on end and with a rueful chuckle I set off towards Kushina. For now I would trust my younger self and think of Kaguya as the end boss of this world. When she came I would do exactly as it said and pluck out her eyes for myself because I had grown fond of this world and the people here. For now though I have a bed time story to tell to two young girls and a 'final' boss to face when Kushina hears about my date.

~Interlude~ Minato

After Shiro had run off being chased by a mad as hell Hina I glanced over at Jiraiya and as our eyes met we were able to maintain our stoic expressions for about a second before we both burst into laughter.

"Ahaha, that's my student. The ladies love him just like his amazing sensei." Jiraiya wiped away a faked tear as he spoke between laughs.

"I think your definition of love is a little different Ero sensei but I can't wait to see Kushina's face when she hears about this." Jiraiya gained a devious smile before he spoke.

"Don't tell her at all. Let Shiro try to explain." I smiled as I imagined it.

"You're a cruel, cruel man sometimes."

"Ninja." He said simply as though that explained everything and in a way it did. "I'm going after him though. If he manages to outrun Hina I'll teach him the technique I promised him today."

My good mood vanished and I nodded. "Alright, but I need you to come as soon as you're done."

His face became as still as stone. "Ah, today's the day then?"

"After I finish with a few things, yes, it is." He didn't respond and leapt after Shiro as I teleported into the Hokage's office. As soon as I appeared there I started writing out the initial trade agreement between Konoha and Suna. The ink had barely dried before I handed it off to an ANBU with instructions to deliver it to the Kazekage. That done I checked my crystal ball and saw Jiraiya talking to Shiro outside a tea house. With the rate at which Shiro picks up new jutsu he should be done shortly so I put it away and motioned for two ANBU to step forward.

"Get me Dragon and Lord Danzo for a meeting in ten minutes." They both bowed and left, letting me sit back in my chair as I waited.

Not ten minutes later all three of them filed into my office and as they entered I activated the seals around the office. Both Dragon and Danzo seemed curious but stood stoically as they waited for an explanation. "Gentlemen," I stood up and faced them. "Today is the day that I kill the man responsible for the Kyuubi attack." There was a moment of silence before Danzo spoke up.

"How and why have you not done so before today?"

"During the attack I was able to tag him with the seal for my Flying Thunder God technique. I can teleport to his location at any time and I refrained from doing so before because I wanted to ensure that Konoha was as stable as possible before attempting to kill him as well as lull him into a false sense of security." He nodded at my explanation and Dragon spoke up.

"What would you have us do during your fight?" Their voice was monotone and stripped of all hints of gender.

"I need both Root and ANBU to be at full standby before I initiate the fight in case our fight takes us back to Konoha. Have everyone ready within the hour after this meeting is done."

"Hard but doable." Dragon responded. Danzo simply gave me a sharp nod.

"Good. Jiraiya will stand as the temporary Hokage while I am gone and become the next Hokage if the masked man succeeds in killing me. Dismissed."

"I like that part the least of all this." I heard Jiraiya mutter, but I ignored him as both Dragon and Danzo took their leave. "Are you sure you couldn't take someone with you for this?"

"No." I said frankly. "The masked man was fast enough to give even me some trouble and…" images of my newborn son being killed in front of me surface but I clamp them down with an iron will. "This is personal."

He frowned at me but slowly nodded. "Just don't let your anger cloud your judgement."

I slowly walked over to the window and stared up at the Hokage's Mountain to look upon my predecessors. "I won't, but he needs to be killed." There was a shuffling noise behind me and then a chair creaked as Jiraiya sat down.

"I know." We were both silent for a moment before Jiraiya spoke up again. "So I found Shiro inside a tea house."

I took the subject change gratefully. "I saw that. One of the nicer ones too if I recall correctly."

"Yep. Then I taught him the Transparent Escape Technique and of course he got it on his first try." He let out a dramatic sigh. "It's no fun teaching him new things. Half the joy of teaching is watching your students fail spectacularly, but it's like he's got the sharingan on all the time." I heard clothe rustle as though he shrugged. "Eh, what can you do? I did get to see him horrified though when I told him he'd have to tell Kushina about his date."

I let out a low chuckle. "That must have been a sight and a half."

"Oh it was. He's properly terrified of your better half's anger."

"Hey now. I'll have you know I'm the better half." He snorted.

"Sure kid, you keep on telling yourself that, but I know who the real power in your relationship is." I turned around to see him making whipping motions at me. I'm sure I could have come up with a witty reply but an ANBU and Root agent jumped through the window and knelt before me.

"I assume everyone is on standby then?" The both nodded and I dismissed them. I gave Jiraiya one last smile as I pulled out a scroll full of my special kunai and a rasengan formed in my right hand. Then I reached out towards that burning beacon in the distance and I disappeared from my office.

Before I could even consciously decipher my surrounding the scroll in my left hand began spewing tri pronged kunai into the air as I focused on the figure before me. He had changed his outfit to a black cloak with red clouds on them but I could still tell that this was the same man as before. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as my right hand inched towards his undefended back.

I could tell the moment he reacted as the distinctive swirl before he teleported started to form around him. I couldn't let that happen and I poured even more chakra into my muscles speeding me up minutely. It seemed to be enough as my rasengan plowed into his upper back. Unfortunately it wasn't an immediately fatal blow and as I tore his right arm off of him I could hear him begin to scream as he vanished.

Everything sped back up and I was left in an expanding ring of kunai and a falling severed arm. "Fuck!" I screamed at the heavens as I could feel my seal on the now detached arm that hit the ground with a wet splat. "Argh, I was so fucking close." My rage soared to new heights and then mellowed as I saw small trees start to sprout around the severed arm. I couldn't help the bitter chuckle that escaped me at the sight. "Of course he has a super sharingan and the mokuton. What's next? Does he have the Rinnegan as well?"

A quick glance around let me know I was somewhere in Kiri so I needed to get moving. I sealed the arm into a scroll and policed the battlefield for my kunai. Once I had gathered them all I teleported back to Konoha.

My stony visage must have tipped Jiraiya off because he didn't say anything as I started barking out orders. "Get me Orochimaru and have him meet me here now." One of the ANBU shot out of the room and I turned back around to Jiraiya.

"How bad is it?"

"Bad and worse."

"Damn." He muttered. I started pacing as we waited for Orochimaru to show up. As soon as he did so I motioned to him to follow and ordered the still waiting Root agent to take us to Root's most secure medical facility. I didn't miss the gleam in Orochimaru's eyes as I said that but paid it no real mind.

"I'll need to take you to Lord Danzo first. Only he and a select few have access to it." The Root agent said as we sped along.

"That's fine." I spat out as we entered a base. It didn't take long to reach Danzo and explain what we needed access for and for him to come along as well. It took even less time to reach the medical facility and I walked in, setting the scroll down on a table.

"The man that set the Kyuubi on us lives for now. I did manage to sever his right arm though." As I said that I unsealed the pasty white arm for them to see. Almost immediately small plants began to grow around it and each of them sharply inhaled.

"The mokuton." Orochimaru whispered in awe and he immediately started examining it.

"This is disastrous." I heard Danzo say. "How does an outsider gain access to both the sharingan and the mokuton? Our two most powerful and founding bloodlines. If our enemies have gained access to them and they can replicate them…" He trailed off and I grimly nodded.

"Unfortunately, I blew my chance to kill him for now. My seal was on his right arm and it was unlucky that I severed it as he fled. Now I don't know whether he'll be back or not but I'm betting on him not being dead by a long shot."

There was silence as Orochimaru continued to poke and prod the limb. "Do any of you have any suggestions on how to deal with this?" Neither Jiraiya nor Danzo seemed to have any plans but surprisingly Orochimaru spoke up.

"I might have one." I looked at him curiously and motioned him to continue. "During the war I became interested in bloodlines and, in my own private time, have been researching how to grant bloodlines to other ninja."

"We shut that program down." Danzo's voice was firm and Orochimaru just nodded.

"Yes you shut it down because of the deaths of our ninja while trying it, but I was using enemy ninja captured during the war." I could see where this was going.

"You need more people to test on don't you?"

"Yesss." He almost hissed out. "It was becoming difficult to procure new test subjects, but this arm will probably set me forward by years."

"You haven't used any of our own citizens or ninja have you?" I had to ask just to be sure.

"Of course not. I'm loyal to Konoha." I couldn't detect any sort of lie so I let it go.

"I'm sorry, but I had to ask." He waved it off and went back to focusing on the arm while I considered his request. Jiraiya seemed disgruntled about it and Danzo seemed intrigued by the thought of artificial bloodlines. Letting out a sigh I made my choice. "I'll issue the order to our hunter teams and ANBU that all rogue ninja are to be brought in alive, if possible, and they'll be delivered to your new department. Just keep the bloodlines that you put into them from outside Konoha, except for the mokuton. I don't need the clans to throw an absolute fit and claim we're trying to steal their bloodline."

"Kuhuhuhu, excellent." He paused and licked his lips. "If it would also be possible I would like young Shiro to help me."

"In what way? I was kind of thinking of having him and his team be sort of like a poster team for Konoha." I said cautiously.

"He intrigues me. Did you know that it has taken me almost two years to learn his Angel's Breath jutsu and that I still can't perform it without turning portions of my target to stone? The Uchiha even tried to copy it with their sharingan and found that they couldn't perform it. A jutsu that acts like a bloodline technique yet others can learn it. Absolutely fascinating."

"You still haven't told me how you want him to help." I said a little irritably.

"Right, right. I think that by using a combination of his jutsu and my medical techniques I can graft the bloodline onto a new person such that it becomes like they were born with it. I would also like a sample of his blood to study."

"If you think it could work I'm willing to let him try and as for the blood sample… You'll have to ask him as it is his bloodline which is protected by clan rights even if he doesn't have a clan at the moment."

He looked disappointed but nodded and I turned to Danzo. "I think we can get everyone off standby for the moment. The man would be too injured to do anything right now." His chakra flared in a pattern and several ninja outside the door jumped away. "Also could you be the one to issue Shiro's help with Orochimaru?"

"Yes." He said slowly. "If that is everything I need to get back to work and think on the ramifications of this." I dismissed him and as he left I rubbed at my forehead. Today turned to total shit pretty quickly after the Chunin Exam final. I need to vent and I think I know how.

"Jiraiya."

"Yes?"

"That place you went to with Shiro had hordes of undead ninja right?" Orochimaru perked up as I spoke but I gave it no mind.

"Yes, but why are you asking?" I gave him a smile.

"I need something to vent on." With that I teleported out of the room to appear back in the Hokage's office. Pulling out the crystal ball I saw that Shiro was just leaving training ground 6 and after putting the ball away I moved to intercept him.

"Shiro." He calmly, when is he ever not, turned to face me.

"Yes?"

"I need you to take me to your undead dimension." A thin eyebrow was raised and his green eyes stared at me inquisitively.

"Okay. May I inquire as to why you want me to take you there?" He reached out to grab ahold of me.

"I just need to vent on something." It would seem that was answer enough for him and as reality broke around us I struggled not to vomit from the sudden transition. As the world reformed into a broken parody and the smell of rotting flesh hit me I created a clone and had it try to use the Flying Thunder God technique to move between places in this dimension. When it was successful I smiled and turned back to him. "Stay back for the next part."

A horrible wailing came from a shambling corpse that was missing most of its face and left arm. I left it in favor of opening a scroll and as hundreds of tri pronged kunai flew everywhere I took the time to silence it. Already I could feel dozens of chakra signatures moving in on our position and I smiled. Time to work out some frustration.

~Interlude~ End

Under a blood red sky, as a full moon hung impossibly large overhead, I saw firsthand why people called Minato the Yellow Flash. Ninja zombies charged at us and they died helplessly as Minato moved amongst them so fast that all that was visible his golden hair flickering between them. Oh they tried to stop him for sure. Elemental attacks of all types flew at him yet he was never there when they landed and some of them were even hit by friendly fire. None of the zombies even got within 10 meters of my position and I simply watched as he performed his deadly dance amongst them.

As the last one fell and began to dissolve into motes of light a primal roar resounded from deeper in the forest and there was a rumbling noise as something large rushed towards us. We both turned towards it and a few trees were destroyed in its rush to get to us but it gave us a full view of it. I could only describe it as a zombified King Kong that stood at the height of a two storied house.

I looked towards Minato and saw twin rasengan form, one in each hand, as he leapt at the beast. He ducked under a swinging fist and his arms extended as each rasengan was plowed into a leg. The beast let out a terrible roar as large portions of its legs simply ceased to exist and stumbled forwards until it began to fall. Minato had not let the opportunity pass and as the beast stumbled he ran up its back and began to pummel its head with rasengan after rasengan until there was nothing left.

 **Ding! Gained 3,000 ryo**

As the beast began to disintegrate Minato flashed around the clearing collecting all his kunai and then ended his journey standing next to me. "Well that was exciting wasn't it?" He asked with a grin on his face.

"You just killed 80 genin level opponents and a mid-sized boss summon in a minute." I said dully.

"Ahahaha," he rubbed the back of his head. "They might have been as powerful as a genin but they were far more stupid than a regular genin. Same thing with that monkey."

"Still…" I trailed off and he shrugged.

"A Hokage has to be powerful. Now can you get us out of here? I want to go take a nice long soak in a bath." I wordless reached out and grabbed hold of the murder machine, I mean Minato, and the world broke around us once more. He looked a little green for a second but then shrugged it off and smiled at me. "Want to join me for a soak and get rid of that stench hanging off us."

"I guess I shouldn't go around smelling like dead people."

"That's the spirit. Follow me then." We set off and arrived at a decently sized hot springs soon enough. After a quite thorough wash we went out to the open aired hot spring and relaxed in the water. "So you have a date with Hina. How are you going to break it to Kushina?"

I let out a groan and sunk lower in the water. "I briefly considered running away and living as a monk for a few years but then I realized that mom and Saiko would just drag me back and the heckling would be even worse. In the end I'll just roll with it and keep Mito and Karin between us. Maybe a good old puppy eyes would do the trick." He let out a laugh before taking a sip of sake.

"I heard you were trying to weaponize that from Kushina. How's that going?" I turned it on and he flinched before looking away. "Pretty well I suppose." He muttered the last part to himself and then drained the cup.

"How did you even end up having her agree to a date anyways?" I made small waves in the water as I considered how to answer.

"It was a bet for the final round. She wanted me to kneel before her and kiss her feet as I proclaimed her the best. I just wanted someone to go with me to a tea ceremony. She's the one that called it a date and then she got all embarrassed afterwards. After that I just wanted to play a prank on her because she always tries to be prim and proper but then has such funny reactions when she loses it."

He let out a small laugh at that. "Kind of backfired on you there didn't it?"

"Yeah." I let out a sigh.

"Just don't take it too far, alright?"

"I know." We sat there for a while and after Minato had finished his second cup he stood up.

"Let's go face the music then." With a groan I stood up as well and we put on our freshly laundered clothes quickly enough. As we were getting closer to the ANBU base I spoke up.

"Can you protect me?"

"I'll try, but she's a force of nature." I nod and as I open the door to their room I was scooped up and bundled off to the dining room table. Behind me I saw Minato calmly enter and grab Mito and Karin into hugs. 'You're worthless as a meat shield.'

"Shiro, I've heard you have a date with Hina. What do you have to say for yourself young man?"

"Mercy?"

She snorted. "I'm fresh out. Now tell me everything." The questioning was long and arduous, but it was familiar and I wouldn't change it for anything.

 **Age: 6 years - 1 month**

 **Title: Root Shinobi**

 **LVL: 23 - 41% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,260/1,260**

 **Chakra: 39,218/39,218**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 133(159.6)**

 **VIT: 126**

 **END: 114**

 **DEX: 143(157.3)**

 **INT: 121(128)**

 **WIS: 105(111)**

 **LCK: 20**

 **Points: 49**

 **Money: 304,546**

 **Skills Gained**

 **Wind Bullet( Active C rank(250(154))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Air is condensed and shot out of the user's mouth at high speeds. Upon impact the bullet will shred the target with high speed slashes of wind.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

 **Transparent Escape Technique(Active A rank(200(150)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **This technique forms a coat of chakra over the user's body that bends light to make it seem as though nothing is there.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**


	26. A Lovely Cuppa

**Author's Note: I changed some things last chapter. The main one being how fast Minato defeated his opponents because most of you seemed to think it was unimpressive along with bumping Transparent Escape from a B to an A rank. Other than that there's nothing else so enjoy.**

After the exhausting interrogation was over and the girls had been put to bed I headed out to the Root base preparing for yet another interrogation from Saiko. Sure enough she was waiting just inside the base tapping her foot with arms crossed. "Finally," she grabbed me and started dragging me through the base. "I've heard that you've been officially acknowledged as adopted by the Hokage but that's of less importance to the fact you have a date with Hina."

'I think your priorities are a little messed up there.' "Wait, how do you even know about that? You should have only been up for like an hour at most?" She continued dragging me along as she replied.

"Don't underestimate the power of gossip and bored ninja." I was temporarily distracted by a pop up.

 **Ding!**

 **Word of your adoption is spreading like wildfire and you have unlocked the conditions for the following title.**

 **Son of a Kage – The eyes of the village and the world will be upon you. Your actions or inactions will reflect upon Konoha and your standing in the world will rise. People will be more likely to listen to your word but beware the hidden daggers that seek you. Welcome to a new war, one of honeyed words, and subtle lies, instead of swords.**

 **This title can be equipped as a secondary title and will be equipped now.**

Saiko paused mid step as the new title was equipped and turned to face me. I couldn't see her face but I'm sure she was scrutinizing me and she slowly started to circle me as she poked and prodded me. "What did you do brat?"

"Why are you circling me?" I tried to deflect with a question.

"Don't try to deflect. Something about you changed. You seem…" she trailed off and her hands moved around in a wild pattern. "I can't explain it but I feel like you're more open? Take off your mask." She commanded and I did so as she leaned in close and she traced my face with her hands. "It's subtle. Very, very subtle but you look more charismatic if that makes any sense at all. I doubt anyone would even notice the change if they hadn't know you for years like I do."

Her hands which had been tracing my face lowered to my neck and it felt like two steel beams tightened around my neck. "Infiltrator protocol." Her voice was cold and deadly.

"A56VB321CH. I fell asleep in your arms after I killed a female Iwa chunin as we relaxed in the osen. I required two shots of muscle relaxant to complete the sensor course. I restored both your arm and your leg through my jutsu called Angel's Breath." I quickly and succinctly listed off my security code and three things we did together that would prove I was who I really was.

Her hands loosened and then glowed green as they no doubt healed the forming bruise on my throat. "Sorry, but I had to be sure." I waved it off as she finished up her healing. "Now. What happened?"

"If you're having trouble even defining it how am I supposed to know?" There was a moment of silence before she looked to the side and grunted.

"Fair enough." She let out a sigh and then ruffled my hair. "You do weird stuff all the time so I'm sure this is just another one of those things. Don't think this will get you out of talking about your date though." I let out a groan and the rest of the night was spent discussing proper ways to treat a lady during a date followed by a particularly difficult spar against Saiko.

As the sun was about to peak back up from the horizon I went to go perform my daily ritual of healing two maimed ninja but I was stopped by a Root shinobi and told to report to Lord Danzo. Feeling curious I made my way to his office and knelt before his desk after I entered.

"Shiro, I have a task for you." I waited as he ran a hand along his chin. He looked as though he hadn't gotten enough sleep and his clothes weren't as crisp as usual. 'Did he not sleep at all last night?' "Several revelations have come to my attention that need to be addressed urgently."

Straightening slightly I gave him my full attention. 'This must be serious.' "As of yesterday we have uncovered the fact that someone outside of Konoha has been stealing our bloodlines and somehow reproducing them in others." My mind briefly blanked as the enormity of this hit me before I snapped myself back to the present.

"What would you have me do?" I suppose I spoke out of turn but he didn't reprimand me at all highlighting how serious he thought this to be.

"Lord Orochimaru has been tasked with studying a retrieved sample and replicating its effects. As of right now I'm reassigning you to his division so consider yourself off duty for as long as he needs you. Of course missions issued by the Hokage supersede this and I have no doubt you and your team will be put on some of the more high profile missions." He shifted in his chair. "Your assigned duties will be explained once you arrive and I'll have someone take you to your new duty station. Dismissed."

I gave him a bow and then left the room. Right outside of the door there was a Root agent waiting for me and I followed them out of the based and to the Torture and Interrogation center. The building itself was very simple, almost plain in its design but we had to go through more than 5 different checkpoints to go deeper into the building.

We continued deeper and deeper into its bowels and faint screaming seemed to emanate from behind almost every closed door. Arriving at a seemingly dead end the Root agent flared his chakra in a pattern and the wall sunk into the floor revealing two more Root agents. I was handed off to them and led even further underground to a large open area where I saw a young girl of about 11 or 12 standing there waiting.

My escort left me and I made my way over to her and took in her appearance as I'm sure she was taking in mine. She had black hair with a blueish tint in a spiky fanned ponytail and a reddish brown shirt with a necklace of some kind around her neck. She also had a slight smirk as I approached and when I got close enough I saw that she had pupil less brown eyes. "What's up pipsqueak? Name's Anko Mitarashi, apprentice of Lord Orochimaru. What's yours?"

I raised an eyebrow at the question from behind my mask. Since I didn't know if she was cleared or not I just let out a monotone, "No one." She pouted and crossed her arms as she regarded me with narrowed eyes.

"Well, 'no one,' why are you here?"

"I was sent to assist Lord Orochimaru in his task." She narrowed her eyes and sent a kunai flying at my head. I tilted my head to the side and let it fly past before it reversed its trajectory to shoot towards Anko as I had attached a chakra string to it as it passed by. "Do you normally attack allies?" I questioned mildly as she caught the kunai and started spinning it around her finger while grinning wildly at me. It wasn't a serious throw but one that you would use to evaluate your targets reactions so I didn't take it seriously. She was just trying to get a rise out of me after all.

"You seem like a fun little toy. We should play sometime." I bumped up her creepiness factor by a notch but that's to be expected from an apprentice of Orochimaru.

"Maybe later. I'm supposed to report to Lord Orochimaru for my assignment and I don't want to keep him waiting." A pout crossed her face before she sighed and put away the kunai.

"Fine. Follow me then." I followed her through a series of corridors into a room filled with lab tech and Orochimaru hunched over a severed white arm while a young male was strapped to a table nearby with numerous incisions all over his body. The male was unconscious and not a threat so I walked over to Orochimaru and bowed.

"Ah yes, young Shiro. How good of you to come so promptly." He turned around to face me and seemed to be studying me intently. "You may remove your mask." With some hesitation I did so even though he had already said my name to his apprentice and strapped the mask to my side.

"Aren't you the Hokage's son? What are you doing here?" Anko asked from behind me.

"I am and I don't know yet." I didn't turn to face her and continued facing Orochimaru. Behind me I could almost feel her indignation at being ignored and Orochimaru's bemused smile probably wasn't helping things.

"Kuhuhuhu. I asked for you to be here because I believe your jutsu could be of great help binding a bloodline to a ninja. In the short time that I've had this arm I've tried implementing a few new ideas with the boy behind me."

'Ah, so that's why I was stopped from using Angel's Breath this morning.' "So would you like me to use it on him now?" I asked politely and he nodded. As I walked towards the naked boy I felt the need to ask what bloodline he was actually trying to recreate. "So what bloodline did you put into him?"

"The mokuton." My leg briefly froze and I almost stumbled. "Yesss. It's been a pleasure working with Harashima's cells. They're almost viral in nature and seem to actually take over the surrounding cells. I've lost a few test subjects as they turned into trees before I managed to cut off their growth." He seemed happy enough to tell me about his research so I kept the questions going now that my interest had been peaked.

"How did you do that?" I looked down on the young boy as I stood over him.

"I placed seals surrounding the cells to cut off their contact with the rest of the body. I theorize that having a healing factor strong enough to overcome the viral nature of the cells would allow them to stabilize and eventually integrate fully." I was nodding along to his explanation.

A thought came to me and I froze. "Is your apprentice cleared for S rank secrets?"

"Of course. Working with me has resulted in her knowing more than one highly classified secret. I trust her to keep this one and the Hokage does as well." Behind him I saw Anko briefly preen with his praise and then went back to absently tossing her kunai in the air. I would trust his word for now but verify it later with Minato. Continuing on then

"So you're going to release the seals as I begin my jutsu and hope for the best."

"Exactly." I took a deep breath and nodded at him.

"I'll begin then." I began forming hand signs as I felt his chakra pump into the boy and small plant growth begin to form in the myriad of cuts in his body. Peripherally I was aware of Anko coming closer but I paid her no mind as my technique completed and with a soft, "Angel's Breath," chakra began to flow out of me.

My jutsu seemed to be working initially as the plant life halted its growth and then slowly withdrew into his body. Eventually there was no hint of growth left and the cuts sealed up. "Marvelous. It seems to be working."

I knew as soon as he had said that it would fail. The laws of the universe demanded it and indeed I could see a swelling in his abdominal area that appeared to be growing larger. I looked on with some curiosity and a grim realization that I had already used more chakra than the technique required and I couldn't cut the flow of chakra out of me. With nothing to do I watched as the boy's skin split apart and a blob of flesh exited it.

The blob hung in midair as the boy's skin repaired itself before the flow of chakra going into him cut off and focused on the blob which was growing. "What are you doing?" Orochimaru's tone was mild but I could detect quite a bit of excitement as well.

"I don't know, but I can't stop." I replied as the blob took on a more and more human form until I was staring at the naked form of a twenty something male with a familiar face. In fact it was the face I saw everyday on the Hokage Mountain. 'I think I just made a clone of the first Hokage.' Was my first thought as the flow of chakra cut off and the body dropped from the air to land on the boy.

As Orochimaru excitedly started to examine the body I took a quick glance at my chakra bar and noted that it had taken the same amount as performing Angel's Breath twice to complete. I looked back towards Orochimaru as he moved the Hokage's body to a new table and started muttering to himself. "Male, age around 25, good muscle tone and bears a striking resemblance to Hashirama Senju. No sign of any higher cognitive functions. Taking blood samples now."

He held his hand over an arm and a blob of blood floated up and into a tube before he moved over to a microscope and put the blood under it. He switched the blood out for another slide and continued switching them until he looked up at me with a smile I wouldn't be surprised to see on a child at a candy store. "You continue to surprise me Shiro. Kuhuhuhu. Somehow you have restored the cells within test subject 5 into a clone of Hashirama with his bloodline intact." He blinked as though just remembering something and I didn't even see him move before he was next to subject 5.

"Congratulations kid." I looked over to Anko and she was standing there giving me a crazy grin with two thumbs up. "You've successfully made a man pregnant and delivered the baby."

I blinked slowly as the words penetrated my brain and I tilted my head at her. "I understand each word in that sentence but you've strung them together to form nonsense."

She stuck out her tongue at me for my cheekiness and it extended far more than it had any right to. She must have learned the tongue extension jutsu somewhere and I being the mentally mature adult stuck my tongue out and made it longer than hers. I saw her blink in surprise before she sucked her tongue back in and grinned at me. "Where did you learn that?"

"Jiraiya told me he was going to teach me a technique that would leave people screaming but then he taught me that." I shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't use it for much but for some reason when an adult sees it they pay me with a jutsu to learn it."

Her eyes widened as she regarded me. "Wait, really?"

"Yep. I've gotten three different jutsus out of it so far." Her eyes glazed over for a moment as though thinking of all the possibilities before she shook her head as though to clear it.

"Huh, I'll have to give that a try sometime." She went back to playing catch with her kunai and after a while with nothing to do I started to do the same. Grinning at me again she sent her kunai my way while I threw mine at her. The game acknowledged and accepted we started adding more and more kunai until there were 20 kunai flying between us. Just as we started to add erratic arcs and bouncing them off each other Orochimaru cleared his throat from behind me.

The was a flurry of movement as we tossed each other's kunai back and stored them away before I turned towards Orochimaru. "While intriguing beyond measure that you can apparently create a perfect copy of the first Hokage from simple cells. The test was still a failure in regards to granting subject 5 the bloodline. All traces of foreign DNA were expelled from his body and it is in perfect health." He clicked his tongue as he started writing something down on a clipboard.

"I'm deeming this an overall positive result as I now have untainted materials to work with. As such you will be called upon to create more bodies of bloodline holders in the future as necessary." Pressing a button two orderlies entered the room and wheeled subject 5 out before returning with a naked girl that they strapped down to the table. He turned towards the girl and paused as though remembering something.

"How good are you at medical ninjutsu?"

"Battlefield proficient. I can heal broken bones as of right now and I know the chakra scalpel technique. Why?"

"Would you like me to teach you how to become a better healer?" Answering a question with a question is an annoying habit that most ninja seem to pick up. If he wanted to play it that way though.

"Maybe, but what's the catch?" He smiled thinly at me.

"Not much at all. I merely want a sample of your blood and perhaps more samples in the future if needed." 'He wants to study what kind of bloodline I have.' I tilted my head as I regarded him. This could be an opportunity to gain more techniques if I play this right.

"I'm sorry, but if that's all you're offering then I'm going to have to pass." Instead of looking put out by my refusal he just started chuckling.

"Kuhuhuhu, of course, how silly of me to think a bloodline would be worth so little. How about an A rank jutsu of your choice?"

I paused as though considering it. "An A and B rank of my choice along with your offer to teach me to be a better healer." I heard a strangled sound coming from Anko but I ignored it for the moment.

"Hmm, you ask a lot for a simple vial of blood." I shrugged in response.

"I was assigned to your department so I know I'm going to become a better healer by cutting people up then putting them back together anyway. So what you're really offering is just two techniques which you should only have to show me once." I smiled pleasantly at him. "Maybe I should ask for more if your part of the deal only takes you a minute and a bit of chakra whereas you're asking for permission to discover bloodline secrets."

There was a moment of silence and I knew I had him when he nodded slowly. "It would seem we have a deal. Are there any techniques you desire in particular?"

"Fire." I said without hesitation. With A and B rank fire techniques I would have every basic element covered even if they were a bit more expensive than normal.

"I see. I'll prepare a list of fire techniques I know and you can choose from that list later. Now roll up your sleeve." I did so and he withdrew three vials worth of blood before he told me he was finished for the moment. As I rolled up my sleeve Orochimaru put away two of the vials and held up the third one as he twirled it. "You know I've been fascinated with your bloodline and how you seem to adapt to new things so quickly. In fact…" he trailed off and withdrew some blood from the Hashirama clone before mixing a drop of my blood with his and putting it under a microscope.

As he watched through the microscope a huge smile formed on his face. "Your cells and Hashirama's seem to be vying for dominance instead of falling before them like others have." He watched for a few more minutes and then pulled away as he pulled out the blood mixture from the microscope. Quickly sealing it away he pulled out a different person's blood and mixed a little of my blood with theirs before going back to the microscope. "Interesting." He said after a few minutes and gave me a look that was almost hungry in nature.

"Well?" I said shaking off the slight discomfort resulting from his stare.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions so I'll wait to make sure. Now about teaching you to be a better medic." He moved over to the girl and motioned me to stand across from him. "Make incisions here, here and here then we'll go from there." I internally grimaced at what I was doing but continued nevertheless. This would be a long day.

The rest of the day was more of the same and I retired for the night to train alone this time because Saiko was out on a mission. As most of Root seemed to be because I had never felt the base feel so empty before. It was probably because of the recent revelation and I didn't pay it much mind. Morning dawned and I created another clone although this time it was from the Yuki clan then I had to report to the Hokage for the final verdict on the results of the Chunin Exams.

Nodding politely to both Shisui and Hina as I saw them I grinned internally as Hina huffed and turned away. "So what did you guys do for your days off?"

"Relaxed for a bit and then trained with Itachi." Shisui said.

"The clan is making preparations for the birthday of the clan head's daughter. She'll be 1 soon and I helped with that. What about you?"

"Oh, you know. Telling bedtime stories to my sisters and looking for good tea houses." Hina merely twitched but before she could say anything the door to the Hokage's office opened and we were beckoned in. As one we entered and knelt in front of Minato's desk.

"Rise." Minato said and I took in the fact that Jiraiya was here as well as Kakashi for some reason as I stood up. "Today," he stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of us. "Is the day you become more than a ninja in service to Konoha. Today is the day you become the leaders of others. Shisui, step forward."

He did so and Minato held out his hand to the side where a green flak jacket appeared in his hand. "Today is the day you become a Chunin of Konoha." He held the flak jacket before him and presented it to Shisui. "Wear it with pride." Shisui gave a low bow and quickly put the vest on before stepping back in line with us. The process was repeated twice more for Hina and I before Minato stepped back behind his desk and sat down. The new vest seemed almost heavier than it should have as it wrapped around me.

"Congratulations to all of you. Because of your efforts Konoha stands strong in the eyes of others." He cleared his throat and then continued. "As of right now Team Jiraiya is disbanded and reformed as Team Kakashi. Know this is not a slight against you but that Jiraiya's responsibilities have been deemed to vital for him to take a Chunin team with him at this time. Kakashi is one of my students and has already reached the rank of Jonin before I even took office. He will lead you on your missions." He gave us a moment to take that in before continuing.

"Unfortunately, Kakashi has a mission that he needs to go on so you will be without a leader for the next week. Use this time as you will but know I will have a mission for you within a week of Kakashi returning. If there are no questions you are all dismissed."

We all bowed and exited the room. Once we had left the Hokage's tower I turned to both of them. "So do you guys want to celebrate this occasion?" They both looked at each other then nodded. In the end we decided to go to the Akimichi clan's bbq restaurant for lunch. We also ordered a bottle of sake as well. 'Got to love the fact that they let us drink because we're ninja.'

We raised our cups and clinked them together as we intoned, "Congratulations." I had never had sake before but my first sip reminded me of a very dry white wine.

 **Ding! Poison resisted.**

I blinked at the message and only an iron will stopped me from breaking down crying. 'Nooooo. Why cruel world? Why would you stop me from getting drunk?' The world was silent to my torture and my teammates continued chatting without a care in the world.

I came out of my self-pity when I heard Shisui talking to me. Blinking I asked, "I'm sorry could you repeat that?" Hina let out a giggle.

"Oh, it looks like we've found Shiro's weakness, alcohol." I shook my head as I snorted. 'Not at all. I could probably drink everyone here under the table now.'

"No, I was simply thinking of something else. Forgive my lapse in concentration." He waved it off.

"It's no big deal, but I asked if the rumors that you've been adopted by the Hokage are true." 'Ah, those rumors that almost led me to having a snapped neck because of a stupid title.'

"Yes. Minato officially announced it in Suna when we were at a dinner meeting with the Kazekage."

"Wait that's what you were doing you got back so late before the finals? I thought you were just goofing off somewhere." Hina's eyes were wide as she said that and I gave her a droll look.

"I don't goof off." She rolled her eyes as she snorted.

"Sure you don't. That's why you keep on trying to embarrass me." 'Huh? Where did that come from? Did someone talk to her about what I was doing because she surely didn't seem like she knew what I was doing before? Time to test the waters a bit.'

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I took another sip of sake as our food arrived. "On a related note when would you like to go to a tea ceremony? I found a place called the Joukeian that has both informal and formal tea ceremonies but I didn't place a reservation for our date yet. Which type would you prefer?"

I was watching closely as I said that and while she did blush slightly it was absolutely minimal. 'Yes someone pointed it out to her that I was fishing for reactions. Probably her parents.' She cleared her throat. "I believe that the informal ceremony would be best and seeing as we are free for the next week I believe any day this week in the afternoon would work." I nodded and that was that. Over the course of the meal strangers, to me, would come up and congratulate us on our promotion. It was mostly Uchiha clan members but there were a few Hyuga as well that came up and congratulated us.

The meal ended and we broke apart for the day. I went over to Joukeian and got a reservation for Hina and I two days from now before sending off a shadow clone to inform her. Other than informing Minato of Anko seeing Angel's Breath and him okaying the fact that she knew the rest of the day was uneventful and it stayed that way for the next two days as I worked alongside Orochimaru.

I did of course get my two jutsu from Orochimaru and they were pretty awesome in my opinion.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Fire Lily(Active A Rank(2000(1375))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Breathing in and expanding their lungs to an almost impossible size, the user breaths out gigantic fireballs comparable to a small house in size. Entire engagements have started and ended with this one technique, easily felling multiple enemies in one fell swoop.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

 **Learned Pillar of Fire(Active B Rank(1000(687))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **The user gathers their chakra through the ground, aiming it towards their opponent. Upon releasing the technique a pillar of flame sprouts from the ground, burning anything within.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

I certainly thought the trade was worth it as they would probably be more worthwhile than a nonexistent bloodline. Unless of course Gamer's Body has turned into a bloodline which may be why Orochimaru is getting even creepier around me.

Coming out of my thoughts as I approached the Hyuga compound I saw Hina waiting at the gate for me. She was wearing a pink blossomed kimono and she had let her hair down to her shoulders. Reflexively I glanced down at my dark blue kimono. I was glad that Kushina had made me go get one for this otherwise I would have just come in my work clothes. Coming up to her I gave a small bow. "You look lovely today Hina." 'I also smell cherry blossoms. A perfume that matches your kimono. Very nice.'

"Hmm, thank you. You don't look to bad yourself. Shall we?" She held out her arm and I intertwined it with my own.

"We shall." We walked away from the gate and down the road a little ways before I spoke again. "I'm sorry this thing spiraled out of control a bit. It was just meant to be something between friends but mentioning it as a date… Well my mother gave me an earful for that."

She snorted. "You think your mom gave you an earful. You should have heard mine. I think it was two days of nonstop talking before my dad stepped in and told me I was not to date anyone before I was 14." She gave me a playful glare. "Try topping that as a horrible conversation."

"Ha. I've got you beat then. When I was 3 Jiraiya stopped me in the street and gave me one of his orange covered book along with 2 other male ninjas. Since I was a naïve little child I took them and showed them to my trainer, who is doing a horrible job of following me." I raised my voice and there was a clatter from an alleyway we passed. Hina raised an eyebrow at that I continued regardless. "That was the first time I've ever felt killing intent directed at me and she burned all three of the books before putting me through a training course from hell. After the end of it I ran to the Uchiha's to escape as my mom and trainer hunted down Jiraiya and I was so covered in blood I clogged their drain washing it off."

Hina gazed at me for a solid second or two before she started giggling. "That's horrible."

"I know and the worst thing is that I can't sense her anymore but she's probably around here and she can hear me now." Her veins bulged briefly before they receded.

"We have a good 5 or 6 people following us right now. Don't they have anything better to do with their days?"

"Apparently not." I commented as I held the door to Joukeian open for her. We walked up to the front desk and the receptionist gave us a bow.

"Welcome. Do you have a reservation or are you a walk in?"

"Reservation for two under the name Shiro." She looked down on her sheet for a moment before she found it.

"Ah, yes. Here it is. If our honored guests would step this way." The receptionist led us to a mostly empty room where we switched out our sandals for tabi, a special kind of sock. There was also a hanging scroll depicting a winter landscape which we both studied for a while before we were called into the main room where the tea ceremony would take place.

After silently bowing to the host and ritually cleansing ourselves we sat and watched as the host artistically prepared the thin green tea. Each motion precise and calculated as he moved. It was almost like watching a dance and all too soon it ended as the thin green tea was served along with some snacks that complemented it. After that there was a simple period of casual conversation between Hina and before we left I was allowed to carefully examine the tools necessary to prepare the tea and with that done we gave one final bow before leaving tea house.

The walk back to the Hyuga was quiet and as we got to the gate she turned to face me. "Thank you for accompanying me to the tea ceremony. It was something I have wanted to see for a while but I would not have gone alone."

"It was my pleasure and I did have a good time doing it with you. I'll see you tomorrow for practice." I inclined my head.

"I'll see you there. Have a pleasant rest of your day."

"And you as well." She turned and walked away from me leaving me with the scent of cherry blossoms lingering in the air. I stood there for a moment or two before I felt a familiar chakra screaming towards me. I didn't react as a red headed blur picked me and we vanished from the street.

As we came to a halt I found myself tied to a chair facing an energetic Kushina and a masked Saiko. "Tell us everything. Don't you even dare leave one thing out." I sighed. This would take a while.

 **Age: 6 years - 1 month**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 23 - 41% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,260/1,260**

 **Chakra: 39,218/39,218**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water**

 **STR: 133(159.6)**

 **VIT: 126**

 **END: 114**

 **DEX: 143(157.3)**

 **INT: 121(128)**

 **WIS: 105(111)**

 **LCK: 20**

 **Points: 49**

 **Money: 303,189**

 **Fire Lily(Active A Rank(2000(1375))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Breathing in and expanding their lungs to an almost impossible size, the user breaths out gigantic fireballs comparable to a small house in size. Entire engagements have started and ended with this one technique, easily felling multiple enemies in one fell swoop.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**

 **Pillar of Fire(Active B Rank(1000(687))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **The user gathers their chakra through the ground, aiming it towards their opponent. Upon releasing the technique a pillar of flame sprouts from the ground, burning anything within.**

 **Decreases casting time by 5%**


	27. Bloodlines

**Author's Note: I'm over joyed that we've broken through the 1000 followers mark. Thank you everyone for reading and enjoy.**

After a long interrogation from both of them about my 'date' I was released from the chair and I had a rather brutal workout with Saiko. I think she was embarrassed that she slipped up enough that I was able to detect her following Hina and I. Other than that the rest of the week went well enough as I spent most of my days with Orochimaru studying bloodlines. At the end of the week though our team officially met Kakashi for longer than a meet and greet.

"Yo." There was a lazy sounding drawl from our right as Kakashi slowly walked towards us, his posture hunched, as his only visible eye was half closed giving him a sleepy, uninterested look.

"You're thirty minutes late to our meeting." I said neutrally while Shisui and Hina stopped their spar to turn to him.

"Maa, maa" he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I saw a black cat crossing my path so I had to turn around and then I got lost on the road of life." I just kind of stared blankly at him. That excuse was so bad it wasn't even funny, but ninja are a superstitious lot and one of the main roads in Konoha is called life so it could be true. The sad thing was I wasn't sure if he was just bullshitting me or telling the truth.

Letting out a grunt I decided it didn't matter. "Fine. Just don't make a habit of it or I'll set Kushina on you." I saw that penetrate his apathetic exterior as he gave an involuntary shudder.

"Kids these days are so uncute." His visible eye turned downwards making it seem like he was pouting. I wasn't quite sure how he did that but however he did that it must take some serious muscle control. I almost let out a snort at the thought of him standing in front of the mirror for hours trying to perfect his eye expressions. 'Pot calling the kettle black there.' A small voice in the back of my head called out as I remembered doing exactly the same for my puppy dog eyes. Drawn from my thoughts by a clap I focused back on Kakashi. "Right then. Let's get to know each other a little better."

What followed was largely uninformative as I had already heard Hina and Shisui's responses and the only thing Kakashi volunteered as information was his name. Kind of a dick move when you'll be leading people into battle but to each his own I suppose. After that we did some standard team exercises just to get used to working together and about a week after the team had formed we took our first mission together, an A rank. Some wealthy merchant had received a ransom note after their child was stolen and we were supposed to track down whoever sent the note and retrieve the kid. Seemed easy enough so we set out at dawn towards our client.

~Interlude~ Minato

I let out a sigh as I cracked my back after sending out Team Kakashi on a child hunt. Sitting in a chair all day was really annoying and I really needed to consider getting some kind of cushion. Ah well, things to remember to do later. For now I have a bimonthly progress report from Orochimaru to get to. Teleporting out of my office into the underground medical lab I saw that Danzo was already there along with Orochimaru.

As soon as he saw I was there he handed us each a stack of paper which I flipped through quickly as he started talking. "As you both know I brought Shiro into this project with the hope that his Angel's Breath jutsu would be the key to binding bloodlines into other people. This would ultimately fail but it did have a fortuitous side effect of creating living, breathing clones of the bloodline holders." I heard a sharp intake of breath from Danzo and my own eyes widened when several people wheeled in the first Hokage.

"As you can see he is perfectly healthy aside from the fact that all tests for brain activity have failed. He even has his bloodline still." My mind reeled as I thought of the implications and I refocused as I heard Danzo talking.

"If he is perfectly healthy could he be used to sire children?"

Orochimaru's face lit up at the idea. "Yes, yes we could extract the cloned body's sperm and artificially induce a pregnancy in a volunteer. I wouldn't risk it for the cloned females though. Too many risks for complications during pregnancy."

My face scrunched up in disgust at the thought of even ordering anyone to essentially rape a cloned female, but asking for volunteers to carry a pregnancy to term and even raise the child was an intriguing idea. We could have the start of new clans in Konoha with no outside baggage from kidnapping a child. "Was anyone else able to replicate the effects of Shiro's jutsu?" If the whole thing hinged on one person it could easily fall apart and I saw Orochimaru's face briefly flicker to an angry look at my question.

"No. Every other person that has tried to reproduce the effects… well let's just say that I've never seen two people fused together before. It must be some part of his bloodline that acts as a stabilizing effect for the jutsu. Speaking of his bloodline though." He walked over to a table and withdrew two folders which he handed to us. Inside there was report after report of experiments on Shiro's blood and I skimmed it for now as Orochimaru started talking again.

"His blood is simply fascinating to study. It behaves almost as viral as the mokuton except where the mokuton destroys the subject's body immediately Shiro's seems to adapt. I've put his blood together with every single bloodline we have and after a short period his blood fully integrates the bloodline."

I looked up sharply at that. "Everyone? Even the mokuton?"

He grimaced slightly. "The mokuton is the exception for now. When put together they almost begin to vie for dominance which usually ends in mutual destruction. It is also important to note that when changed by a bloodline and introduced to a new one his cells begin the process of adapting to them but then stop. I have no idea as to why that is." I sat back in my chair as he finished speaking while Danzo leaned forwards with interest.

"Have you tried introducing his cells into another person yet?" An ecstatic look crossed his face.

"I have. When subjects were introduced to his cells without any other bloodline I was able to see them adapt to their body so that their natural defenses wouldn't hurt them. After introducing more and more of them some sort of critical mass was reached and they began to rapidly convert the surrounding cells into his. Unfortunately, the process is proving rather lethal at the moment with all test subject dying within an hour of the process starting. This holds true for when his blood has been introduced to a different bloodline beforehand as well."

"Great, I have to tell Shiro his blood is a biological weapon." I ran a hand through my hair before a thought came to me. "If this is correct then can he even have children or will he kill people just by having sex with them." I heard a snort from Danzo while Orochimaru looked thoughtful.

"I don't believe so. Hashirama was able to have children even though his blood is proving deadly for others. I would have to test it though to be certain."

I bit back a sigh and nodded. "When he's older you'll have to test him before he has sex." 'God that felt weird to say.'

"Kuhuhuhu. Of course." He licked his lips and then focused on me. "I would like to know if I have permission to introduce a bloodline into Shiro? I'm almost one hundred percent sure that he could survive with no complications and the process would help in my other research."

I bit my lip and my hands clenched as waring emotions hit me. I mainly just wanted him to be safe but sacrifices had already been made with the Chunin Exams and letting the rumor spread that I had adopted him. That was a lot of attention on him even if it was necessary for Konoha at the moment. Gaining a bloodline would make him safer yet also put him in more danger than he already was when bloodline hunters came for him.

"I would have to talk with my wife and Shiro first before I can give you an answer. Shiro should be back within a couple of days so I'll have an answer for you by the end of the month." He looked disappointed but nodded.

"Everything I told you but in more detail is in the notes I gave you. If that's all I would like to get back to my work." Neither of us had any more questions and he left us as I started looking over the notes in more detail along with Danzo. Most of the medical terminology flew right over my head and I resolved to brush up on that later when I had time.

"You know," Danzo said jolting me out of my thoughts. "While not quite what we wanted this is a great boon for Konoha." I nodded.

"Yes, would you start the screening process for women who would be willing to carry and raise a child?"

He bowed his head. "Of course." Finishing reading through the report I burned it leaving nothing but ash. One less copy floating around should decrease the chance of it being stolen. With that done I teleported back to my office. After all a Hokage's work is never finished.

~Interlude End~

It was nearly dinner time when we returned to Konoha after successfully completing our mission. Kakashi had practically abandoned us as soon as we returned but the rest of us went out for dinner together. The dinner itself was pleasant enough and at the end of it I said my goodbyes then went straight to Kushina. I had a bed time story to tell and I didn't want to miss it.

As soon as I opened the door I heard Kushina's voice. "Shiro you're back and what is that thing on your head?" She was sending an amused look at the flowery wreathe upon my head and I reached up to touch it gently.

"Oh this? Nothing much, it's just when we rescued the client's daughter she wanted to give her heroes a present."

"Sounds like an exciting mission then." She pulled me into a hug which I returned as I shrugged.

"Not really. A nearby group of merchants had hired a rogue ninja to kidnap the girl but as soon as he caught sight of us he ran, leaving the girl behind. I expect Konoha will be getting a mission soon when our clients take revenge."

"Shiro." Mito slammed into my side. "That looks so pretty. Can I have it?" She was looking at the wreathe with stars in her eyes.

"Sure." I took the multi flowered crown off my head and placed it on hers as she squealed in delight. "Where's Karin? I have one for her as well." I took a second one out of my inventory because Kakashi hadn't wanted his and I took it thinking of giving them to the girls.

"In the kitchen." She ran off towards the kitchen and I followed along at a more sedate pace. In the kitchen I saw Karin drawing something while Mito pranced around Minato showing off her new accessory. Plopping down next to Karin I placed the wreathe on her head and smiled at her when she looked up.

"Shiro," she cried as she flung her arms around me, "what's on my head?" I took it off and showed it to her as she clapped her hands in delight. "It's so pretty, put it back on." I made a grand spectacle of it and she giggled at my display before getting up and running over to Mito where they compared their new headgear.

"Hello Shiro. How did your mission go?" Minato asked as he finished eating his meal.

"Well enough." I replied as I watched the girls run around. "There will probably be a follow up mission from the client since we found the identity of the kidnappers but they weren't on site or near enough to get rid of easily."

He nodded and I saw him make a shadow clone along with Kushina. Raising an eyebrow in question he motioned for me to do the same as Kushina's clone gathered up both Mito and Karin to take them out of the room. "Come on girls, your mother and father have something we need to talk with your brother about." I could hear their protests as our clones exited the room and Kushina slapped a seal down on the floor isolating the room.

Now I was curious and I looked at both of them expectantly. Minato cleared his throat before he began to speak. "You know how Orochimaru asked for blood samples from you?" 'Ah, so that's what this is.' I nodded and he continued. "Right, well first off I have to tell you that your blood is lethal to everyone that was injected with it."

I blinked at that. "Okay so no bleeding on anyone I like, got it." They let out a chuckle before Minato turned serious again.

"In light of this when you're older you'll-" he paused and started blushing. "Wow this is more difficult than I thought it would be. Um, you know what sex is right?" A horrible realization came over me at his words and I struggled not to react. 'Would I be giving people a very real lethal injection if I had sex with them? I swear if that's the case I'll go on a rampage.' Realizing that I still hadn't responded I gave him a shaky nod as I glanced at Kushina to judge her mood. She didn't seem angry at the moment so I was in the clear for now.

"Oh thank God, I didn't want to have the Talk with any of my kids this soon." I felt a brief bit of warmth spread through me at his statement before it was gone once more. Kushina reached across to him and patted his knee to which he gave her a grateful smile before turning back to me. "So you'll have to be tested before you can engage in any sexual activities when you're older, but you don't need to take the tests until later."

I nodded again and looked back and forth between them. For some reason I had a feeling we weren't done yet. "Now we can talk about an opportunity for you." I perked up at that while Kushina took over.

"From what I understand all tests show that you can adapt to at least one bloodline not your own. Orochimaru is confident that he can surgically graft a bloodline into you with little to no harm occurring to you." 'Well I didn't expect that. I think I need to know more.'

"Can you tell me the pros and cons of doing that?" Minato nodded.

"Sure. A pro is that people with bloodlines are simply more likely to survive out in the field." 'Surviving is good.' "A major con is that bloodline holders are hunted by enemy villages but as my son you will be hunted no matter what." He paused for a moment and then turned deadly serious.

"While knowledge of your jutsu hasn't spread, and Tsunade has agreed to take the heat if it ever comes out, I would recommend doing this to simply have more options available to you in a fight."

"Can I think about it for a minute?"

"Of course, take all the time you need. It's a big decision and you shouldn't rush into it." Taking a deep breath I let my thoughts drift. More power is always good in a fight but I have to think about the long term and the short term.

"I suppose Konoha bloodlines are off limits."

Minato nodded and then added, "Yes they are along with the mokuton, but that is because your blood and it destroy each other." 'Useful to know. Also mental note to self, avoid mokuton user's blood.' Being destroyed from the inside out sounds painful.

"Could I see a list of bloodlines available?" He pulled out a sheet of paper and I read it slowly. Dark release, dead bone pulse release, lava release, hold on what's this. My finger tapped on shoton, the crystal release, as I read more about it. Apparently the user's had the ability to make crystals out of thin air. That could be useful when traveling dimensions. Gems are always precious and the ability to produce a substantial amount of them given time could be invaluable along with the practical applications I could think of. "If I go through with this I would like this one."

He pulled the sheet back and looked at it. "Why this one?"

"I have a good feeling about it." That seemed to be good enough for him but I could see Kushina was getting a little worried at the thought I might go through with this.

"Are you sure you want this Shiro? There's a chance you could die?"

"There's a chance I could die every time I go on a mission." I said frankly. "While I could die doing this if it helps my odds of surviving in the field it's worth the risk, which Orochimaru said was minimal. I've seen his skill and I trust his judgement on something like this."

Minato nodded at that. "If you really do want to do this I'll bring Tsunade back for the operation as well. Having an extra medical genius should improve the odds even more in your favor." That cemented the decision in my mind.

"I want to do this." Kushina slowly nodded and stood, motioning me to do so as well. Once I did so she wrapped me in a tight hug and moments later I felt Minato join the hug.

"Okay." She said simply and hugged me tighter. "I'll support you in this and I want you to know that I love you." I couldn't say those words back without them being a lie. The most I could feel for them was mild affection so I simply hugged her closer. Perhaps one day I could say those words truthfully again but it would not be today.

The group hug lasted for a moment longer before Minato pulled away. "I'll see that Orochimaru begins preparations and I'll send out a recall for Tsunade. We should expect her to be back within two or three days."

I gave him a nod as Kushina pulled away and out of the corner of my eye I saw her smile at me. "Let's go tuck the girls in. They loved your last story about the little mermaid. Maybe you should write these stories down." She let out a laugh as she seemed to think of something. "Actually you should absolutely do that and when they sell more than that smut Jiraiya writes you can rub it in his face by saying the student has surpassed the master."

The thought drew a smile out of me as we walked towards the sound of excited yelling from the girls. When we entered the room I saw my clone making them fly around with chakra strings as the other two clones looked on smiling at the sight. My clone, seeing us enter, gently set them down and with a pop dispersed along with the other two clones as well. "Alright girls, it's time for a story from Shiro before bed."

There were twin cries of joy and they hurriedly got prepared for bed as I plopped myself down on the bed. Once they were ready Mito snuggled in on my left and Karin on my right and clearing my throat I began. "This is a tale of Beauty and the Beast…"

Almost as soon as I finished the story they both conked out and I hesitated for a moment before deciding to stay for the night. While I was confident in my chances it wouldn't hurt to enjoy myself for a bit. With that thought running through my head I created a clone and sent it off to Saiko as I settled down in the bed and closed my eyes, letting sleep take me away.

The next three days seemed to fly by and whenever I saw Orochimaru he seemed giddy. I also went to see Saiko the night after I had gone to sleep and whilst she seemed unhappy about my choice she still supported me. Although telling me I'd better not die otherwise she would kill me was a little odd. Ah well, tough love I guess.

Finally Tsunade arrived back in the village and the first time I saw her was in the operating room waiting for me. Since she was one of the two people tasked to keep me alive during the procedure I gave her a deep bow which she just grunted at. "You know something brat? I've made a vow not to return to Konoha and I've had to break that vow twice now because of you." Her hands curled and relaxed as she sent a glare my way. "Might as well have never made the damn thing since I've already broken it three times and I don't like going back on my word. I better not have to break it again because of you or I'll wring your neck."

I'm not quite sure what to say to that. Sorry for interrupting your drinking and gambling, perhaps? No probably not. I don't have a death wish. "I'm sorry for upsetting you."

There was a moment of silence as she stared at me before she let out a grunt. "I suppose you didn't force me to come back, you're just the cause. Just whatever you do next don't do it inside Konoha. I dislike the memories this place brings back up."

"I shall endeavor to have our next meeting be outside Konoha."

"Whatever. Strip down to your underwear and get on the table." I quickly stripped and set my clothes down in a neat pile before I laid down on the cool surface of the table. As I did so I saw Orochimaru wheel in a cart and I felt the jab of a needle as I was distracted by him. Looking back over at Tsunade I saw her withdraw the needle and then look at me curiously when nothing happened. Her hands glowed green and she ran them over me before grunting again. "Fine, we'll do this the old fashioned way then." The last thing I saw was her glowing hand above my forehead and then darkness.

 **Ding! Bloodline detected, integrate? Yes/No**

 **Ding! Status unconscious selecting yes due to prior actions.**

 **Ding! Bloodline Shoton, Crystal Release, integrated. New elemental affinity, Earth, gained. Gained +5 LCK.**

 **Crystal Release (Active(Varies)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Users of Crystal Release can convert any matter into crystal, from physical material to moisture in the air, allowing them to turn anything into a weapon. When used against living creatures, targets can be crystallized down to the cellular level. Crystal users can also manipulate preexisting crystals and crystalline structures.**

 **Decreases cost for all crystal techniques by 0.25%**

 **Increases control of crystals by 1%**

 **Increases chakra capacity by 0.1%**

 **Ding! Health and chakra restored to full. All status effects removed.**

A queue of flashing pop ups was the first thing that I saw when I woke up. I quickly skimmed through them and felt a glimmer of satisfaction when I saw that the bloodline transfer had been successful. Trying to sit I found myself impeded by bands to hold me down but they were simply to restrain an unconscious person and I slipped out of them easily enough.

As I stood up I realized I didn't have anything on but my underwear but I saw my clothes in a pile near the bed so I got dress while wondering why no one had shown up yet. Apparently that was the cue she was waiting for because Tsunade strolled in as soon as I had finished putting on my clothes. Just one look at me and she let out a long suffering sigh. "Ninjas, the worst patients in the entire world. Get back in bed while I check you over."

"I can assure you I'm fine." I really just wanted to leave and test this new bloodline out but she just let out a growl, and hoisted me up with one hand, then threw me back on the bed. 'Wow, what a kind bedside manner.' I mockingly thought, but didn't dare say, as she started to check me over.

As her glowing green hands roamed over me I impatiently waited for her to finish and she gave me a flick on the forehead whenever I started to squirm too much for her liking. Finally after what must have been ages she leaned back and grudgingly said I looked fine. Freedom awaited me and I was halfway to the door before I felt myself lifted off the ground once more by the back of my shirt.

"I said you seem fine, not that you could leave brat."

"Ahhh." Time to use the forbidden jutsu, 'puppy dog eyes go.' I twisted around to face her and gave her the full blast. "Please?"

"What kind of genjutsu is this?" I felt her chakra flare and she stared at me for a moment before sighing and rubbing her eyes. "Fine. Just go and see Orochimaru. See if I care if you end up back in the hospital." The last part was muttered at me as she released her hold on my clothes letting me drop to the floor.

'Yes, critical success.' "Thanks for everything." I yelled back at her as I ran out of the room. I didn't want to stick around long enough for her to change her mind and I really did want to start playing around with my new bloodline. I ran along the corridors until I found a familiar section and from there made my way towards where I felt Orochimaru's chakra. The fact that I could actually feel his chakra made me think that he already knew I was up and was waiting for me to come to him.

Sure enough he was waiting for me. "Kuhuhuhu. I see that you're up and about after only a day." He sent an excited look my way. "Of course that's seemingly normal for you based on how fast you heal while asleep. We had trouble inserting the grafts because any of the incisions would heal so quickly." Shaking his head as though to clear it he motioned me to roll up my sleeve and I did so as he took a sample of blood before bringing it over to the microscope. After a little while he looked back up from it and sent a far too wide grin my way. "It would seem that the operation was a success. Can you feel anything different or form crystals?"

I concentrated for a moment and a crystal the size of my torso formed above my palm. 'Whoops, that was supposed to be a lot smaller than that. Got to work on control before I even think of using it in the field.' I also noted that the crystal itself was translucent with a light pink sheen to it. Hopefully I could change the color of it later but it wasn't that big a deal compared to the fact that I have a bloodline now!

"Excellent. Let's get on with the testing shall we." I nodded eagerly and I spent the next 6 hours running test after test to make sure I was in good physical health and that the bloodline graft hadn't negatively affected me in some way. After proving that I was 100% fine and dandy I was left to go on my merry way although I could vaguely feel two chakra signatures split off to follow. A few quick hand signs later and I found out they were to follow me around for about a week until everyone grew used to my new chakra signature. It wouldn't due to have the Hokage's son mistakenly attacked because of a misunderstanding.

With that out of the way I made my way back to Kushina. She had told me I was to return to her as soon as possible once the surgery was done and I didn't want to disappoint her. Almost as soon as I entered the room I was scooped up into a bone crushing hug. "Welcome back Shiro."

"It's good to be back." I said as I returned the hug. She held onto me for a long moment and then almost reluctantly set me down. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Karin and waved at her.

Her adorable little face scrunched up as she peered at me. "You feel different." I let out a chuckle as I made my way over to her. As I knelt down in front of her I saw that she was clutching the coin I had given her and smiled.

"I suppose I do, but I'm still your brother. Otherwise how would I know how ticklish you are?" My hands shot out and her laughter filled the air as I tickled her mercilessly. I let her go after a moment and she ran away giggling. Smiling as I watched her run away I spent the rest of the day working on my control for the crystal release with intermittent interruptions in the form of the girls playing around. After I had told them a bedtime story and they were fast asleep I slipped away and went to see Saiko.

While she hadn't hugged me like Kushina she had ruffled my hair and we had gone to a restaurant instead of working out. I suppose that's just her way of celebrating so I didn't question it. Almost immediately after we were done with the dinner or breakfast in her case she left on a mission leaving me alone for the rest of the night. As I set a clone to practice elemental manipulation I noticed that with the addition of my new earth element the earth techniques no longer cost three times as much chakra as they did before.

With that in mind I went to go find a leaf and with a bit of concentration.

 **Earth Manipulation (Passive) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and earth chakra as well as the manipulation of earth.**

 **Decreases cost of all earth techniques by 0.25%**

 **Increases control of earth by 1%**

 **Increases total chakra capacity by 0.1%**

 ***Earth Leaf exercise (Active 30(25.5)/min) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Decreases time spent changing from neutral to Earth chakra and back again by 5%.**

'Great, yet another control exercise I have to work on. It never ends does it?' I asked rhetorically. No answer was forthcoming and I toiled the night away until it was time to go meet up with my teammates in the morning and I set off for training ground 3. As soon as I arrived Hina had taken one look at me with her dojutsu and settled into a combat stance with Shisui following her lead.

"Who are you and what happened to Shiro?" She demanded as the two ANBU following me revealed themselves and started flashing hand signs at the two of them. By the end of it they had both relaxed out of their stances but I could see the curiosity burning in both their eyes. "What happened to you?" She repeated and I gave a lazy shrug.

"Well, when a person begins to grow up strange changes happen. You may notice your-" I had to dodge a thrown kunai and I plucked it out of the air as it passed me.

"If you can't tell me just say that. Don't make weird excuses." I scratched the back of my head as I gently tossed the kunai back to her.

"Sorry." She didn't look very mollified and I resolved to make it up to her somehow. My thoughts were dragged away from that by the appearance of Kakashi.

"Yo." He said as the smoke from his arrival cleared enough for us to see him. "We'll be taking a break from missions for the next week or so." His eye drifted over to me as he lazily looked me over. "Well, Shiro will be taking a break from missions for the next week or so but we are still able to complete missions. Maybe a C rank or something easy." He mused and I raised an eyebrow at him.

The mission ban for a week didn't bother me it was the fact that he singled me out like that in front of the team. I kept my peace for now but started thinking of ways to get back at him. 'Hmm, maybe set Kushina on him for reading those little orange books while we were on our last mission.' I allowed a small evil smile to form on my face as I stared at him. 'Yes that sounds good.'

He seemed to regard my change in behavior warily but started us on our exercises all the same. 'Just you wait Kakashi. I'll set the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero on you soon enough.' Mentally chuckling I threw myself into the exercises.

 **Age: 6 years - 1 month**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 23 - 42% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,260/1,260**

 **Chakra: 39,241/39,241**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 134(160.8)**

 **VIT: 126**

 **END: 115**

 **DEX: 144(158)**

 **INT: 121(128)**

 **WIS: 106(112)**

 **LCK: 25**

 **Points: 49**

 **Money: 311,189**

 **Skills increased**

 **Mystic Palms Apprentice 6 - 8**

 **Angel's Breath 3 - 4**

 **Since some of you were interested so I've put Shiro's skill list online and you can go check it out if you so desire. Just put a . where there is a space except for after com/ and yes I had to put it in this way.**

docs

google

com/

document/d/15ewkK4_V79KLn7eOI3EiFwCOAG_hwr_ZzpyNJLFQXEk/edit?usp=sharing


	28. Two Years

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long update time. I totally got sucked into playing Mass Effect Andromeda and then it was hard to switch my brain from Science fiction to Fantasy.**

The training with the team finished for the day but I didn't immediately run for Kushina. I'd made the mistake of potentially revealing my plans for Kakashi by smiling at him and I resolved to wait for a while before I struck. It wasn't like I was on a time limit or something so I would be patient and then strike when he believed himself safe from reprisal.

After the training ended I was expecting Hina or Shisui to pressure me to find out what had happened, but other than giving one more curious glance they had left without a word. I'm sure that either Hina told her clan about it or they simply saw how different my chakra network looked after the surgery because at the end of the week I was given an invite to Hinata's, the current clans head's daughter's, birthday celebration.

Oh sure they also invited Kushina and the girls as well but it was mainly addressed to me. I found it curious that they didn't include Minato as well but after asking him about it later he said it was about the Hokage being neutral in clan affairs and not being seen as favoring one clan or the other. As such he would not be invited to these kinds of events unless they also invited every other clan head as well. Bah! Politics everywhere.

Either way I had more than two months' worth of notice before the actual event and after going over it with Kushina and Minato I decided to attend the event. Other than that I spent a large amount of time with Orochimaru and his apprentice in the medical labs where I was instructed to use Angel's Breath to bring male clones, with different bloodlines, to full health. I had an inkling about what they were being used for but it really wasn't my business and I didn't care.

Time continued to pass and I was cleared for duty once more after my week off. We took an easy C rank escort just to get back into the swing of things and then we were off taking harder missions. Months began to pass and when the time came I went to the birthday celebration of Hinata. Somehow, and I'm not quite sure how, the Hyuga were even more dry and boring during a ceremony than the Uchiha. The only saving grace of the entire thing was that they served exceptionally good food.

I was only too eager to give my gift, a bouquet of crystal flowers which took forever to get correct with my crappy control, and leave as soon as was politely possible. I had already cleared the gift with Minato and he had said it was an acceptable use of my new bloodline. Plus it would confirm their suspicions that something had happened to me and serve as a word of caution to prying too much or at least that's what the flower arrangement said. The language of flowers wasn't something I really studied but Kushina helped me out there.

My accepting of the Hyuga invitation might have been a mistake in the end though because then the offers started to come from the other clans as well. I literally couldn't decline them without seeming like I was snubbing them and that wouldn't due at all so I made my way through the clans. The Akimichi, the Nara and the Yamanka were allies with clan heirs all turning 1 at around the same time so they had a group celebration which I actually enjoyed. I even got into an eating contest with an Akimichi which drew in a crowd at the spectacle. My opponent was a… big fellow like most of the Akimichi were and as the dishes continued to pile up the crowd began cheering at us.

By the time our pile of dishes was twice my height he paused at his next bite of food and turned quite green before turning to the side and barfing. The surrounding crowd let out cheers or groans and I saw money being exchanged as I was announced the winner. The voucher for 50% off the next time I was at an Akimichi restaurant was nice as was the fact that my competitor had taken his defeat with grace and invited me to have a rematch anytime I was willing. Delicious free food was delicious free food and I took him up on his offer several times over the coming months.

Around 6 months after I had resolved to set Kushina on Kakashi for his porn reading habits I made a passing remark about it in front of her. There had been a terrible stillness like the calm before a storm as she spoke. "You said he reads orange books while on missions?"

I nodded cautiously. "And giggles a lot while he reads them. Hina said he was disgusting for reading such filth out in public but he just shrugged her off."

'And slipped her a couple of the books when they thought no one else was looking but I didn't need to rat her out.' She was a teammate and a friend whereas Kakashi was Minato's old student making him like my older brother in a way. An estranged antisocial one but a brother nevertheless and it was the duty of little brothers everywhere to get their older brothers in trouble.

"I see." Her eyes narrowed and a stony expression formed on her face. "I'll be right back I need to go take care of something." She flickered out of the room and I leaned back in my chair to address the empty room.

"So what will it take to not tell Kakashi about my involvement?" A small spy camera appeared on the table in front of me and I raised an eyebrow before nodding. "Pictures of his punishment? I can do that." I picked up the camera and tucked it away before I sped after Kushina to the chuckles of the hidden ANBU.

It was easy enough to find her as all I had to do was follow the heart rending wails of a man losing his most precious possessions. As I reached the source of the commotion I found Kakashi rapped in chakra chains, hanging upside down in the air, whilst Kushina stood next to a roaring bonfire and an impressive stack of books. "I've told you time after time not to read that pervert's smut but you just didn't listen now did you?" She negligently picked up a book and tossed it into the fire as he wiggled in his bonds.

"NOOOO! My precious! Not Mika and her promiscuous twin sister!" Fat anime style tears dripped out of his one visible eye and I laughed silently as I took pictures with the camera.

Kushina snorted and rolled her eyes at his exclamation. "Oh please, you're almost 15 get a girlfriend or something." She tossed another book into the fire and ignored his wailing laments. "At the rate you're going I wouldn't be surprised if Shiro got married before you. Now just hang there for a moment while I take care of the rest of the filth and then we'll have a nice long chat." I had everything I wanted out of this so taking one more photo I slipped away to head back to base.

Once I got there I threw the camera towards where I thought the ANBU was and was rewarded with watching it disappear. "I want copies of any of the photos for blackmailing purposes."

"Acceptable." A monotone voice drifted around the room seemingly coming from all around me.

"Great. Just drop them off when they're developed." I was interrupted with my discussion to the 'empty' room by Mito and Karin running in and demanding that I play dress up with them. I agreed of course, their puppy dog eyes were to powerful for me, but I did give a scathing look towards where I thought the ANBU agent was to warn them of the consequences of any candid photos that they might be tempted to take.

Life continued on and Kakashi was moody for a couple of months after Kushina's book burning torture. I was pretty sure that he knew I was responsible for the act yet nothing came of it for the time being. Regardless I would keep my guard up around him for as long as necessary. If I could wait 6 months then I'm sure he could as well. Other than that I continued to train my new bloodline and started going to tea ceremonies with Anko and her friend Kurenai Yuhi, a fair haired red eyed genin. Apparently she enjoyed tea ceremonies and after learning about me going with Hina approached me with the intent to join her. I didn't mind going and it was interesting to see her go from the slightly crazy kunoichi to a poised lady on the flip of a switch.

Time kept passing me by as my 7th birthday passed and a couple of weeks after word trickled down through the grapevine that Kiri had devolved into an outright civil war. That was about the extent of the information I heard before it seemed like Kiri cut off all outside contact. I knew from Saiko that Root was taking an interest in it and absconding with anything useful they could get their hands on during the chaos. I was not part of any of those missions though as I was still working with Orochimaru in his lab, learning how to be a better medic, and creating clones when necessary.

On what I'm sure was a completely unrelated note quite a few people seemed to be pregnant around the village. Even Saiko was showing a baby bump and boy did that throw me for a loop when I saw it. We had just finished a particularly difficult work out and retired to a mixed bath for a bit of relaxation when I saw that her baggy clothes had been hiding the slight swell of her stomach. "Are you pregnant?" I blurted out as soon as I saw her disrobe before I blushed at my outburst.

Luckily she seemed more amused at it than anything else and reached down to gently rub at her stomach. "Yes I am. It was time for me to start a new phase of my life so I did."

"Oh." Was all I could say as my thoughts reeled from this revelation. I had built Saiko up as someone so completely committed to her duty that she didn't have a life outside of being a kunoichi. Seeing proof that she did threw me off. "Congratulations. Who's the father?"

She turned to fully face me and as her dark eyes bore into mine she lifted an elegant eyebrow. "Why you of course."

'Error 404, does not compute.' My mind experienced a blue screen of death but I was soon drawn out of my mental breakdown by the sound of laughter and the click of a camera. With an iron focus of will I drew myself back to the present to see Saiko putting away a small camera and smiling at me. "Kakashi sends his regards for the prank. I might have to prank you more often if I get to see your face hold so much expression."

'A prank? Damnit I've been had.' Shaking the last vestiges of shock out of my system I spoke up. "So are you actually pregnant or was that part of the prank?"

A look I've never seen before appeared in her eyes as she smiled. "No that's real and you are more than partially responsible for me being pregnant."

'And there's the shock again.' "How?"

She pulled me into the bath so we could soak as we talked. "Your use of your jutsu when I was maimed restored my ability to have children. Then your work with Orochimaru allowed for me to have a donor to become pregnant."

"Oh." She smiled at me and leaned against the side of the tub, relaxing in the warm water. I took a quick look down at her stomach, partially hidden by the water, and back up at her before asking, "I could see how you could think that but how far along are you?"

"Two months. I was going to tell you sooner but Kakashi and Kushina conspired to prank you so I waited until I was showing."

"I'll have to destroy the camera." I muttered as she smirked at me.

"Good luck with that. I've already made copies and hidden the negatives away." I cursed silently in my mind. I guess being told you're a father was a greater shock than I thought because it's throwing me off my game. "Regardless I wanted to ask whether or not you would be the child's godfather?"

"I would be honored to but don't you have people who are older than me who you could ask?" My voice was cautious as I didn't want to offend her.

She shrugged and slipped further into the water. "My life was consumed by my duty to the village before I met you. I didn't have friends I had acquaintances and squad mates. After training, and practically raising you, you're one of the few people I'm actually close to that could be a godfather. I've already asked Kushina to be the godmother and she accepted."

"Then of course I accept but what's going to happen with Root and you training me?"

"We're setting up an identity at the moment but I'll either be a chunin within the cryptology department or heading into the Torture and Interrogation department. As for training you that will be put on hold when the pregnancy advances but I'll still have time after I give birth."

I let everything sink in for a moment before I slowly nodded. "Okay that makes sense. It'll just be weird seeing you without your mask on all the time. What would our cover be for why I'm interacting with you all the time?"

She sent me a look of approval before she responded. "You'll have saved my life during a border patrol that went wrong and being the grateful single mother that I am I latched onto you."

"Why not the other way around? Why am I saving your life instead of you saving me?"

"Because I'm supposed to be a nobody chunin in the field of cryptology whilst you're a rising star, the adopted son of the Hokage, winner of the Chunin Exams at age 6-"

"Alright, alright I get it." I cut her off as I frantically waved my arms in front of me. I guess I still have trouble when people are praising me like I did in my old life.

"Either way you'll be my little errand runner later. Consider it training for when you get married." I let out a slight groan at the thought of being at the whims of a pregnant woman again and sunk deeper into the water as she laughed at me. "Oh yes I'll be expecting foot massages every day and weird food combinations at all hours. Then when the baby is born you get to babysit them as well because the poor single mother needs her rest so soon after giving birth."

"You could tear through a squad of Iwa ninja and be back in time to kick my ass in training. You don't need rest." I muttered under my breath as she stood from the water and made to leave.

"True enough and don't you forget it. You're done for the night so you can continue to soak if you want." She paused at the doorway and looked back at me. "Thank you for accepting my offer."

"You're important to me so of course I accepted." I tried to wave it off as unimportant and she just hummed at my response before leaving me alone in the tub. I sank deeper into the water as she left and stayed there for a good long while as I came to terms with Saiko being pregnant. Eventually I was roused from my thoughts as a mixture of male and female Root members entered the tub and rising from the water I took my leave.

After Saiko's revelation and a good natured ribbing from Kushina the next time she saw me life continued onwards. About 7 months afterwards Mito, Karin and Kushina were able to return back to their home as Kushina had finally cracked the seal necessary to stop space time ninjutsu from being used within its field. I even helped set up the barriers around certain portions of Konoha, mainly the school, ANBU headquartes, Root bases, Kushina's house and several clan compounds.

We weren't able to cover Konoha completely because they did require chakra to maintain and Minato's signature move was a space time ninjutsu so cutting off access to his main weapon would be foolish. Regardless we deemed it enough and it was funny seeing Mito and Karin blink owlishly at all the people after their extended time underground. By now of course Saiko was off duty and as she had stated I was on gopher duty for her.

I think she got some kind of sick amusement sending me scurrying for the weirdest combinations of food. I shuddered at the memory of the salted pickle, hot sauce, chocolate with a dash of honey monstrosity. Sometimes I regret having perfect recall. Just a few short months later and Saiko gave birth to a baby boy with a tuff of brown hair and dark grey eyes. She named him Takashi and it was odd seeing such a stern woman cooing over her newborn baby.

Regardless my left hand glowed green as I brought it over my right hand to examine it. 'Yep, definitely shattered.' I went to work repairing it and ignored the amused glances I felt as I worked. 'Mental note to self, don't hold insanely strong women's hands when they're giving birth.' I was just finishing restoring my health to full when I heard Saiko speak.

"Do you want to hold him?" Glancing up I saw Saiko holding Takashi towards me wrapped in blankets and sleeping already. Apparently being born took it out of him. I carefully took him from her and cradled him in my arms as she smiled at me before letting out a huge yawn. She shuffled to the side of the bed and patted the space next to her so taking care not to disturb Takashi I laid down next to her and she wrapped an arm around me. It was silent for a moment as she pulled me closer and ran a gentle finger along Takashi's cheek before she let out another huge yawn. "I love you both." I heard her murmur as she fell asleep next to me.

A brief ball of warmth formed in my chest before it was swept away and I made myself more comfortable as I heard a clicking noise from above me. Looking up I saw an ANBU with a wolf mask taking photos and I raised an eyebrow at them. They let their chakra loose for an instant and I relaxed before subtly nodding at Kakashi. I guess he was sent by Kushina to get pictures. With the minor mystery solved I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep next to Saiko and my new godson.

The next few weeks were hectic as Saiko settled into the life of a new mother. I helped out when I could which was mainly getting Takashi back to sleep if he woke up in the middle of the night so Saiko could actually sleep. The perils of never having to sleep I suppose you get put on baby duty. Other than that it was… nice being able to see Saiko's face all the time although it still weirded me out a bit seeing her being so affectionate. Motherhood really does change people though.

Of course my life couldn't just revolve around Saiko and my godson as I spent plenty of time going on short missions, playing with Mito and Karin, and training, always training. I did have a break one day where Kushina took Mito and Karin to Mikoto's house where they were introduced to Sasuke for the first time. Sasuke, being 3 wasn't at the girls are icky stage yet so after a short awkward period they settled for playing ninja out in the garden while Itachi and I watched. He was recently promoted to chunin and while the vest was a bit too big for him at the moment it suited him. Our quiet conversation was interrupted by shouting from our younger siblings.

"Shiro is the best brother!" I looked over to see Karin angrily stomping her foot as Sasuke moodily stared back.

"No, Itachi is the best!"

"Shiro!" Mito joined in.

"Itachi!" Sasuke yelled louder as the two girls ganged up on him. They went back and forth while I looked back over to Itachi as the corner of my mouth twitched upwards in a smirk. _Play along._ I signaled to him and then rose to make my way towards the arguing children.

When I got close enough I spoke over them. "Well now it seems we have a disagreement on our hands." They stopped shouting and looked towards Itachi and I. "There is only one way to settle this." I made two crystal swords and tossed one to Itachi. "A duel to decide which brother is the best because there can be only one best big brother."

I pointedly ignored the feel of Itachi's deadpan stare that bore into my back as they cheered. "If you all get over to the porch we'll start our duel." They scrambled away and I turned to face Itachi. His eyes seemed to scream, 'Really?' but I just gave him a slight smile and glanced at our siblings who seemed to be vibrating in place they were so excited.

His eyes followed mine and he let out a nearly unperceivable sigh as he began to test the sword. I'm sure he would find it nearly flawless with the only problem being that I had made them look sharp but as dull as a butter knife. Finished with his inspection his eyes turned red as his fully matured sharingan stared at me. I raised an eyebrow at that. For all that he seemed to not care about this it looked like he really wanted to win. At an unseen signal we both moved and our swords clashed together.

Of course we both wanted to win but it was also a show for the siblings so while we were going fast we didn't go as fast as we could, merely extremely quick bordering on blurring for them and slow for us. It seemed to be enough for them as I could hear their excited yelling in the background and even Kushina and Mikoto had wandered out of the house to see what was going on. That seemed to be the signal to turn on the ridiculous and we both began using outlandish moves that would have gotten us killed but looked awesome. I even got in a double front flip with a downward slash as I jumped over his head. Totally ridiculous but it was fun.

It came to an end when we 'stabbed' each other through the chest and collapsed to the ground. There was three cries of dismay and I watched under my lidded eyes as Mito and Karin ran towards me. When they got close enough I sprang up and grabbed them both into a hug much to their shrieking delight. I just ignored their tiny fists hitting me for playing such a prank on them although Mito's had quite the amount of force behind them. Must be the Kyubi giving her strength.

Looking over I saw Itachi poking Sasuke on the forehead? Why would he do that? Ignoring it for the moment I focused back on Karin and Mito who were babbling on about how cool that was and if I'd teach them how to do that and on and on and on. Their impassioned questions brought me short as I realized that once they turned 4 their official training would begin. Sure they had been playing games that were disguised as training but now it would be serious.

My arms tightened around them at the thought and I resolved to make sure they were as ready as possible. There was no point thinking I could hide them from the world. Mito was the container of the Kyubi and needed as much training she could get while Karin was a natural sensor and they were both daughters of the Hokage to boot. Whether they were ready or not enemies would come for them but hopefully not until they were ready.

This thought filled my mind for the next several months as I turned 8 and both of them turned 4. Almost immediately it was apparent that Mito would be directed towards more physical training whereas Karin would have a standard workout plan for now. All this ran through my mind as I ran alongside them. Mito wasn't even breathing hard and indeed seemed unaware of any physical strain caused by the run while Karin was beginning to huff and puff.

We continued our run until Karin was about to collapse and I made a clone that continued onwards with Mito as I stopped next to Karin. She fell to the ground gasping for air and I gently pulled her back to her feet. "Let's make sure you stretch and have a cool down walk before you stop."

Her face was beet red from exhaustion but she managed to wheeze out, "Do I have to?"

"If you want to be an amazing ninja like your big brother you do." That seemed to be enough for her and she slowly started copying what I was doing. As soon as we were finished I got her a large jug of water which she drank from greedily as my clone and Mito ran past us. Karin didn't seem to notice at all and I took the jug away from her before she drowned herself which made her whine at me. "You've done your katas and exercise for the day so let's your on something different." I took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around her head, covering her eyes in the process, then took her hands. "We're going to work on you sensing chakra."

"What's chakra?"

"Chakra is the spiritual and physical mix of energy we use to create jutsus." I saw she didn't really understand so I continued. "Think of it as your mind and your body's energy mixing together and flowing throughout you. Now I'm going to flow my chakra around and I want you to tell me which hand it's going to. Don't peek."

"O-Okay." She sounded unsure of herself which we would have to fix sooner rather than later. I channeled chakra into my right hand, her left, and the training started. We got to the point where I was moving around her and releasing chakra for her to pinpoint before I saw her start to become bored of the exercise. Her progress was phenomenal anyways so I decided to stop there as Mito bounded around trying to tag my clone. 'Jeez she has a lot of stamina. Only after 3 hours of running does it look like she's a little out of breath.'

Shaking my thoughts off I peeled the impromptu blindfold off Karin and scooped her up into a princess carry. "You did an amazing job today. At this rate you'll be a ninja in no time." 'Although I would push for her to be at least a midlevel chunin before she even stepped foot outside of Konoha but that wasn't going to be happening.'

Her face lit up in a blush and she wriggled in my grip before giggling as Mito face planted after taking a running dive at my clone. I raised an eyebrow at why my clone would allow that before I saw her bounce back up looking no worse for wear and tear after my clone. I felt a sweat drop form before I shook my head and went inside where Kushina would take over Karin's reading and writing tuition. After I dropped her off I left to go meet my team at the North Gate. We had a protection mission in the capital and I had to get going.

They were already waiting for me and after a quick greeting we headed off towards the capital. It took us the rest of the day but the mission didn't start until tomorrow so we simply checked into a hotel for the night and early the next morning we met our client.

As soon as I set eyes on the grease covered lump of lard that called itself a noble I felt a headache forming. I just knew this was going to be a pain in the ass to be around him and I was right. It took nearly 4 hours just to leave his sprawling house and between shouting at his servants he… well insinuation was a word that was lost on him. He was more blunt than a tree to the forehead.

His eyes roved up and down Hina and he would lick his lips from time to time with no attempt to hide his behavior. In fact he outright stated that she would be welcome to join him in his tent to keep his bed warm. In the 2 years that I've known her Hina has become far more graceful and dare I say beautiful, but she was only 12. While this society would think nothing of her being so young I was certainly bothered by it and while her Hyuga mask was in place I saw the signs that she was furious. Kakashi must have seen it as well as he signaled me to take her place in the inner circle of protection while she took my place.

As I passed her by she sent a grateful look my way and I noted the disappointed look on the lard's face before he took in my appearance and the creepy look was back. 'Damn pedophile,' I thought as a shiver went up my back.

Luckily we got underway soon afterwards but unfortunately the lard took a young street urchin with us as well. She was probably only 12 at the most and felt and looked like a civilian to us all but we had to be close enough to intervene if she was not no matter how disgusting the client so we took turns on top of his carriage listening to the sounds coming from within.

As the sun set and we made camp for the night the girl hobbled out of the carriage and went to the nearby stream to presumably clean herself up. I could smell blood on her and the water turned red once she entered it confirming it. As she slowly washed herself I considered the merits of hiring an A rank assassination after this mission was done and once she was fully clad once more I hopped down next to her.

"Miss, I'm a healer and I can heal you if you're injured."

"W-what?"

"If you're in pain I can make it go away." I said softly and I saw her hands tighten before she cautiously nodded. My hands glowed green and I ran them over her before focusing on the vaginal and rectal tearing while leaving the bruises for later. It didn't take long to heal them up and I took care of underlying issues of the bruises but didn't heal the blemishes because I didn't know how the pedo would react. Finishing up I took a step back and she gave me a look that was uncomfortably close to hero worship. 'I was no hero because if I was then I certainly wouldn't have left you at the mercy of his attention so please don't give me that look.'

"Thank you!"

I didn't say anything and simply leapt back up to the safety of the trees where Hina was waiting. She nudged me and sent a small approving smile my way when I looked over at her. I simply gave her a small nod as I went back to my assigned spot. Later I also saw Shisui and Kakashi each give me their own approval of my actions. Letting out a soft sigh I felt my headache intensify. This was going to be a long mission.

The rest of the week was much the same as we slowly plodded along the road towards Tanzaku Quarters, our destination, as each night I healed the girl. She never offered her name and I never asked but the awe and worship were still there even after I did nothing to stop her from gaining her wounds. The Pedo kept up his blatant offers to Hina and by the time we reached Tanzaku Quarters I knew Hina was close to killing him.

Perhaps luckily as soon as we reached our destination he took to drinking and gambling, what the town was famous for, before passing out rather quickly after losing a boat load of money. His servants carried him back to his hotel and we had a day free from his horrendous behavior which probably saved his life which was a pity although it saved Hina from getting into trouble.

The next day the Pedo's mood turned for the worse as he realized how badly he had lost and his ranting could probably be heard halfway across the town. He stormed out of the hotel and went straight back to the gambling table as though he could magically make up his losses. Of course he just lost even more and we had to step in when the bouncers for the place closed on him when he struck the dealer. That could have ended badly for them but they saw we were ninjas and backed down although I did see Kakashi slip some money to them as we followed our shouting client out the door.

The pattern repeated itself for the next few days and although the gambling halls bouncers stayed near Mr. Pedo they clearly didn't want to stop the flow of cash. After all why would you slaughter the cow when you could milk it dry? After losing a small fortune Mr. Pedo finally had enough and we left Tanzaku Quarters for the capital. Just another week of this and we would be through with this piece of shit.

The street urchin had the worst of it as each day she emerged more and more injured from the carriage and I kept healing her while leaving superficial marks on her so it wouldn't seem like she was being healed. This continued until the walls of the capital were in sight and I heard a roar from the carriage. With a bang the door was opened and she was thrown from the inside to land heavily on the side of the road.

Mr. Pedo emerged closely after her yelling up a storm and quite clearly deep into his alcohol. "You lazy whore! We had a deal and you broke it!"

"N-no I just-"

"No, you get nothing from me! In fact, ninja kill her!" The briefest of glances at each other told us we weren't going to follow that. We were paid to protect not kill, at least this time, and he was an ass. I jumped down next to her and took in the wild eyed panic in her eyes before focusing on Mr. Pedo.

"With all due respect sir. We'll take the girl away." I had every intention of placing a hit contract out on him later, or even killing him myself, but for now I had to appear nice to the servants.

His eyes bulged and a look of fury overtook him. "No! Do you have any idea who I am…" I kept half an ear to his self-important wank fest as I communicated with Kakashi. 'I think if I did it right I could skin him alive. It would be hard to do but Saiko did show me those interrogation techniques for a reason.' I finished signing Kakashi and he laid down on a branch looking like he was about to fall asleep as he left everything to my discretion. The lazy bastard.

"… Well?" I mentally reviewed everything he said. If my memory was correct, and it was, he was a branch house of a branch house of a minor noble house. So a spoiled man child living off the last bit of prestige and fortune of his ancestors. Well if he wants to throw around titles might as well indulge him.

I raised my nose in the air and stared down at him even though he was taller than I was. It was a simple technique. All you had to do was imagine the other person as less important than pond scum which was easily achieved in this case. "I'm the son of the Hokage." I said quietly but my voice rang throughout the convoy.

"So no I will not be strapped down to your bed and have my ass fucked until I bleed. Furthermore I think the Hyuga and the Uchiha clans wouldn't take kindly to their members being treated likewise." It took a moment to sink into that thick inebriated skull but Mr. Pedo turned pasty white when he realized just who he had insulted. I must say it did nothing for his looks at all and my nose wrinkled as an odious smell wafted past me before his eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted.

'Really?' I stared at his collapsed form for a moment before I had several of the servants lift him back into his carriage and double time it for the city. We still had the mission to finish and as soon as he was back inside his house we would take our pay and leave. As the convoy began to move at a pace that wasn't comparable to a snail I created a clone that went to work healing the girl as chakra strings floated her alongside me.

Her wide eyed stare lasted all of five minutes before she was able to speak up. "What are you going to do with me?" I mentally sighed. 'I have no idea really.'

"How much were you going to be paid?" I asked mostly to stall for time.

"500 ryo." I narrowed my eyes at her in warning and she rephrased it. "250 ryo."

'Damn. Only a little more than two braces of kunai.' "Do you have any marketable skills? Oh, and don't lie I'll know."

She bit her lip and my clone popped as it finished its job. "I don't know? Could I be like you?" There was the hint of hero worship again. I glanced over to Hina and her veins around her eyes bulged briefly before she minutely shook her head. That just confirmed what I was sensing from her. A minuscule amount of chakra that would probably take years of work to even reach genin levels. Sure back in my first life with a little work she would have been a world class Olympian but here that just wouldn't cut it.

"While that remains an option if you pursue it on your own I can't help you there."

"Oh." She said sadly.

"Is there anything that interests you besides being a ninja that you could work towards?" I was kind of just throwing things out here. I could just give her money and send her on her way but she would probably be mugged or killed over it within a week if I gave her any appreciable amount.

"Sewing?" She said after a long pause but I latched onto it. I sent some clones ahead as the convoy pulled into Mr. Pedo's house. A quick search yielded our B rank pay and I went towards where I found the Tailoring Guild. A little bribe money to take on another apprentice and a formal apprenticeship was signed for the urchin I now knew as Suzume. Before I left I made 5 scrolls with 4,000 ryo each and handed them to her along with instructions on how to open them.

Then we left because she was giving me vibes that she was going to hug me and I really couldn't take that from someone I basically left to be tortured for two weeks because it would reflect badly on Konoha. She had a roof over her head, food, money if she was smart enough to hide it and a future beyond spreading her legs. That was all I could reasonably do for her.

The run back to Konoha was quiet although the tension racked up when we started encountering multiple squads of ninja roaming the area. Thankfully they were friendly but we were challenged almost every twenty miles. Konoha was out in force and I had no idea why. The gate guards were no help and they just stated that we all needed to check in with either or clans or families at once. I said my hasty goodbyes and set off for home as quickly as possible.

I could feel Mito and Karin upstairs while Kushina was in the living room. As soon as I entered her head whipped up and she gave me a sad smile before beckoning me over to her. "Mom, what's happening?"

"Kumo," she spat out before taking a moment to compose herself. "You know how the peace delegation arrived last week?" I nodded and she continued. "Well it was apparently a ploy the whole time. Not even a day after the ink was signed the lead delegate snuck into the Hyuga compound and tried to kidnap their heiress. He didn't get far before he was killed and she was returned unharmed but it seems like more than one elder was in on it and now Kumo is demanding the head of the clan head for killing the leader of the peace delegate."

I blinked heavily at that. "What kind of idiots do they take us for? In fact why would they even attempt this? Kiri is exploding internally, Iwa is practically tapped out for manpower and while our allies Taki and Suna were also hit hard they should come to our defense. They have no allies and nothing to gain from this. Their reputation will also take a huge hit for using their diplomatic immunity to try to kidnap a clan heiress."

She shook her head and sighed heavily. "All points that Minato has raised to both me and the clan heads. We won't give into their demands and it looks like things are taking a turn for the worst."

"So it will be war then?" She pulled me onto her lap then stroked my hair with one hand and hugged me with the other.

"I don't know."

 **Age: 8 years - 1 month**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 28 - 67% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,610/1,610**

 **Chakra: 63,714/63,714**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 169(219)**

 **VIT: 161**

 **END: 159**

 **DEX: 174(191)**

 **INT: 151(161)**

 **WIS: 132(141)**

 **LCK: 30**

 **Points: 74**

 **Money: 671,359**

 **Skills increased:**

 **Yin Manipulation 35 - 65**

 **Yang Manipulation 35 – 65**

 **Water Manipulation 92 – 100: Prestige of Water Resistance: Decreases the damage of water based attacks by 0.5% at LVL 1: Now LVL 10**

 **Lightning Manipulation 70 – 100: Prestige of Lightning Resistance: Decreases the damage of lighting based attacks by 0.5% at LVL 1: Now LVL 3**

 **Fire Manipulation 25 - 48**

 **Wind Manipulation 53 – 84**

 **Crystal Release 1 – 56**

 **Earth Manipulation 1 – 45**

 **Angel's Breath 3 – 5**

 **Apprentice Mystical Palm to Journeyman to Expert: Heals 40hp/min internal injuries**

 **Known Earth and Fire techniques maxed with ongoing prestige skills**

 **Kenjutsu Adept 7 – Expert 6**

 **Giant Strength – Giant Strength 1: 30% bonus to STR**

 **Troll Regeneration – TR 1: 3% Bonus to health regen**

 **Iron Skin – Steel Skin: 30% damage reduction**

 **Chakra Pool – CP 1: 30% increase in chakra capacity**

 **Pain tolerance 28 – 36**

 **Poison Resistance 61 - 71**

 **Meditation 63 – 76**

 **Sneak 89 – 97**

 **Sense Chakra 69 – 78**

 **Transparent Escape 1 – 10**

 **Unseen Threat (Passive) LVL 10 Max**

 **The haze that surrounds the user when moving will be decreased at the cost of speed.**

 **Decreases haze effect by 100%**

 **Decreases movement speed by 90%**

 **Fuinjutsu Foundations 89 – 100**

 **Seal Manipulation( Active(Varies)) LVL 10**

 **The art of increasing or decreasing the size of a preexisting seal by 100%.**

 **Blood Seal(Passive) LVL 8 – 89**

 **The art of substituting blood instead of a mixture of blood and ink.**

 **Puppy dog eyes 4 - 41**

 **Skills Learned**

 **Crystal Sword (Active D rank (100(61))) LVL 10 – MAX**

 **Creates a sword of varying length and size anywhere on the users body.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige skills**

 **Crystal shurikens (Active D Rank (100(61))) LVL 10 – Max**

 **Creates a storm of crystal shurikens that fly towards an enemy.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **Jade Crystal Prison (Active C Rank (250(152))) LVL 10 – Max**

 **Encases a single target in crystal. If the crystal is shattered, the victim disintegrates along with the crystal particles.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige skills**

 **Crystal Armor (Active/Passive B Rank (500(305))) LVL 10 – Max**

 **The user can create a shell of crystal that surrounds the user protecting them from harm. If the user is completely covered an additional 100 chakra is used per minute to sustain the technique but the armor can be created and not actively moved resulting in just the initial cost.**

 **Decreases casting time by 50%**

 ***Prestige Skills**

 **Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon (Active A Rank (1000(610))) LVL 8 – 56**

 **The user crystallizes a material in the area and then turns it into a dragon. It can be used as a means to attack or to travel. Several dragons can also be used at once.**

 **Decreases casting time by 40%**


	29. Taming a Cat

**Author's Note: This story has reached more than 1000 favorites. Thank you everyone, you're awesome.**

~Interlude~ Minato

I wanted to do nothing more than massage my forehead as the clan heads bickered before me. The entire Kumo kidnapping incident had caused nothing but problems and I still couldn't figure out why the hell they thought they could get away with it. I'd met A, the current Raikage, several times before. Once on the battlefield and more recently meeting with him to discuss a true peace between our villages and not a ceasefire which we were currently in. He seemed like a hothead each time but I had held onto hope that he had cooled off somewhat however the current evidence suggested otherwise.

'Although there are more than a few here who would say peace and ceasefire are the same thing.' A traitorous portion of my mind spoke to me and I did have to acknowledge it. The Elemental countries seemed to be locked in a state of cycle of violence with periods of small skirmishes instead of wars. Still it was far better than the Clan Era. That had been a period of constant warfare.

Just taking a quick glance around I could see that more than a few clan heads were rearing to go and rejoin the fight with Kumo over this. I was more willing to go down a peaceful solution but I wasn't sure that was still an option here anymore. If only they could have taken being caught with some amount of grace but no they had to double down and demand Hiashi's head for killing the man who stole his daughter away.

At least the quick crackdown and purge of those who enabled this was over. A brief frown marred my face as I recalled several Hyuga elders who were in on it. I would never understand what would drive people to toss away their friends, family and their village for money or promises of power. Just the thought of betraying my family in such a way made my heart ache.

The sudden silence drew me from my thoughts and I had to spend a second going over what had been said before I turned to Hiashi. "Could you repeat that? It sounded like you were thinking about agreeing to Kumo's demands." I had to work hard to keep my voice as neutral as possible. I didn't want to be seen as favoring one side or the other until I had to.

Hiashi already had his Hyuga poker face on as he turned his pupil less eyes towards me. "I merely suggested that the cost of one life against the amount of people we would lose warring with Kumo makes this no contest in my eyes. I am a proud shinobi of Konohagakure and if my death would save thousands of others I would gladly pay it."

His declaration caused quiet murmuring to spring up around the table but I ignored it for the moment in favor of steeling my hands together and studying Hiashi. He gazed passively back at me while I did so and I saw nothing but resolve in his eyes. Our impromptu stare off was interrupted by a quiet "Troublesome," and I turned my focus onto Shikaku Nara who was looking remarkably alert for a Nara at the moment.

"Is there something you wish to share with us Shikaku?" I hoped he had some sort of plan to get us out of this mess. The Nara's, at least the males, were one of the laziest bunch of people imaginable but they were also the smartest and if he had a plan I was all for hearing it.

The rest of the room also quieted down as everyone focused their attention of Shikaku who let out a truly impressive sigh before he spoke. "While your gesture is noble, Hiashi, I don't see it working out as you planned. Kumo seems to be deliberately trying to provoke us into a fight but the question is why?" His gaze traveled around the room and briefly stayed on my regrown limb that was lost to the Kyubi before continuing onwards. The clan heads knew about the near miraculous technique, how could they not when some of their clan members were the ones healed, but they believed that Tsunade was the creator of the technique. She had also reported a far greater increase of assassins and spies after her recently so the secret had finally spread beyond the village walls which was unfortunate, but nearly a miracle that it took this long to get out.

Shikaku finished his perusal of the room and then slowly shook his head. "No, I believe that any attempts to appease Kumo will simply delay the inevitable fight unless we manage to firmly dissuade them from their course. It might even be better to allow them to attack now when they have no allies that they could call to battle or would only join if we started losing massively."

'Damn. It was a harsh assessment but it was in line with what the Tactical department was saying.' I held back a sigh. 'If only they could have done this later.' We were still recovering from the Third Shinobi War and then the Kyubi attack and even with Shiro's jutsu bringing back people to field readiness we were lower on manpower than I would like. 6 more years would have bought us enough time to fully recover and begin training the next generation of bloodline user's from Orochimaru's experiments as well. If wishes were real… well actually we would probably be dead because of our enemies.

Regardless. "What do you suggest then?"

"If it comes to another war then Suna, Kawa and Taki should join on our side but to prevent that from happening we would need to do something big." He paused and then let out another sigh. "The current Raikage's brother B is a jinchuuriki, that much we know, but we have reports of another contained tailed beast as well. I believe the jinchuuriki's name is Yugito Nii."

I slowly nod and motion for one of the ANBU to go get me the folder we have on her. "Are you suggesting we kill or take one of them hostage?"

"Yes the loss of such a strategic power would severely weaken their military might although I would recommend not targeting B. Based on the reports we have of the Raikage he would definitely pursue war with us if anything happened to his brother but his advisors might become more cautious if they lose Yugito."

The ANBU returned with the folder and I quickly skimmed it over. Female, age 17, jonin and seen in a two tailed state while still in control of herself. Yes, she was definitely a threat and could probably kill quite a few of our ninja if war broke out. I repressed a sigh and set the folder to the side for the moment.

"Let's say we succeed at taking her out without being revealed. What are the chances Kumo will back down?"

Shikaku wearily rubbed his forehead before he spoke. "They would probably be more likely to stand down for a while but you have access to the same reports I do as Jonin Commander. They've been harassing us on our border for the past 6 months which was why this peace delegation was so important. Either way it's more of a question of when than if they attack, but either way we deny them a valuable asset even if the ceasefire continues."

There was a moment of silence as everyone seemed to harden themselves for the seemingly inevitable conflict. I let the news sink in and then rapped my knuckles on the table to get everyone's attention. "After considering the situation I've come to a decision." I turned so I was fully facing Hiashi before I spoke next. "Hiashi your willingness to sacrifice your life for the good of Konoha shows that you are a true ninja and I wish everyone could have the courage it takes to willingly do so." I took a deep breath before I continued. "However, I do not believe that doing so at this time would be for the benefit of Konoha as we would lose a wise and respected clan head for dubious gains at best. This may change but for now we'll put this to the side."

He bowed his head slightly and I still couldn't tell what he was thinking behind his blank face. "As the Hokage wishes."

"Since we will not be giving into Kumo's demands just yet I want you all to begin preparing for the worst while I continue to try to resolve this peacefully, even if that goal seems further away by the minute. If there is nothing else you are all dismissed."

There was a scrapping of chairs as the clan heads rose and left. Once the last one had left I allowed myself a small moment to collapse back into the chair and tiredly rub my eyes. 'Why did I want to be Hokage again? Oh right, it was my childhood dream.' An amused snort escaped me. 'If I could I would probably go back and slap myself for wanting that. Being Hokage is nothing more than paperwork and hard decision after hard decision.' With a small sigh I straightened and left the room, grabbing the folder on the way, to go back to my office.

As I entered the office my clone looked up from the stacks of paper and with a gleeful look on its face dismissed itself as I winced at the sudden influx of memories. I gave myself a moment to go through everything as I sat down before sending one of the ANBU to fetch Danzo. I had a mission that needed to be hashed out.

It didn't take him too long to arrive and as soon as he had made himself comfortable I activated the privacy seals around the room sealing us in. "So I'm sure you know our current position in regards to Kumo."

He nodded slightly as he took a sip of tea one of the ANBU had left for him. "I do. I even have an updated troop movement. We can't be sure exactly where they're being sent but Kumo is mobilizing even more than they were before the kidnapping attempt."

My shoulders slumped at the news and I felt my headache grow. "So they've been preparing for this and the unreasonable demand is just an excuse."

"It would seem so." He said blandly and I let out a sigh. We could win a war against them. We still had one of the largest militaries even with recent setbacks and our allies would help but it would be bloody.

Straightening I walked over to the window so I could look up to the Hokage's mountain. It helped ease my mind seeing my predecessor's faces carved into the rock face looming above us and I stared up at them a moment longer before I turned back to Danzo. "I need your advice on a mission regarding the jinchuuriki, of the Two Tails, Yugito Nii. If Kumo is determined to see this through I want a crippling first strike against them."

"Not Killer B, the Eight Tails container, instead?"

"No, he's powerful enough that we would need a small army to kill him and the security around him is too tight for an assassination."

"True enough." He took a sip of tea and then closed his eyes as though trying to recall something. "If I remember correctly I believe I can have a team sent out within the day. Do you want to just assassinate the container or capture her to bring her back and extract the Two Tailed beast?"

I rocked back on my heels as I thought about it. Just killing her would allow the beast to escape and Kumo could seal it again but if we captured her and took the beast for ourselves than we would be that much stronger down the line. Of course the risk was far higher and our enemies would become even more nervous when they found out we had a jinchuuriki but that would be later. "Focus on killing her but if you can bring her back without implicating Konoha do it."

"Two teams then and I would like Shiro to go along as well."

A jolt went down my spine and I carefully kept my face neutral. "Why do you want him to go?"

"His powers would make infiltrating and extracting a great deal easier giving the mission a higher chance for success." His eyes flickered over to mine. "Of course if you do not believe him ready for such missions then…" he trailed off as I shook my head.

"Shiro has my full confidence but for such a high risk mission I would ask that you give him the choice to refuse."

"As you wish." He drank the rest of his tea and then stood. "If that is all?"

It was not and I shook my head. "I actually want your advice on whether or not we could possibly seem to comply with Kumo's demand and substitute a clone from Orochimaru's experiments?"

The question actually seemed to stump him for a minute but when he replied it was strong and confident. "It is definitely a possibility that needs to be considered. I don't know the exact politics of the Hyuga clan but the betrayal of several of their elders must have shaken them and they need a strong leader at the moment. Another thing to be considered is if they ever discover the ruse." His eyes locked with mine.

"If other villages discover that we could copy people's bodies down to a genetic level with intact bloodlines there would be war. The current civil war in Kiri is helping us cover the fact of where we're getting so much new blood but such an outright display would be inadvisable. Of course you are the Hokage and the choice rests with you."

I let out a sigh and nodded. "Thank you for your advice. That will be all for now." He gave me a small bow before he left the room.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind him I collapsed in my chair and leaned down to open a secret drawer. Pictures of my children greeted me and I flipped through them. The one of them all peacefully sleeping together was one of my favorites although the one with Shiro with a powdered face wearing a pink yukata as Mito and Karin braided his hair always drew a smile to my face. Shiro would probably kill us all if he ever found it but it was worth it. The latest photo caught my eye and I saw Mito and Karin grinning widely as they hugged Shiro while Kushina smiled as she rested her chin on his head. There was even a small smile on Shiro's face as I saw the banner in the back proclaiming it his eighth birthday.

'Harder and harder decisions.' I thought as I gently tucked the photos away.

~Interlude End~

I felt a chakra signature flare up outside the house and pulse in a rapid pattern that made me want to sigh. Apparently I was being recalled to the Root base for an urgent mission and I had just gotten home as well. Before I could get up Kushina hugged me close and gave me a kiss on the top of my head. "Stay safe."

"I'll try," I murmured as I wiggled out of her grasp and headed towards the door. "Tell the girls that I said hello."

"I will." I heard her call out as I shut the door behind me and sped off towards the base. It didn't take long to reach and I quickly changed my outfit to be suitable for a Root mission. I was just slipping on the comforting weight of my mask before I stepped into Lord Danzo's office to see him and 8 other Root agents standing at attention.

As I joined the line Danzo cleared his throat and began to speak. "You are called here today for a vital mission that could determine the survival of Konoha. The odds of survival are low so I will only ask for volunteers for this mission. If you wish to participate step forward now."

Each of us stepped forward at the same moment making it seem almost choreographed in nature. While I wasn't enthusiastic about what he said I wouldn't try to shirk my duty and beside if they called me here they must need me for something. Danzo slowly looked at each of us and nodded.

"Very well." He slid 9 folders towards us which we took and then returned to our original positions. "Your target is the possible capture of one Yugito Nii, the jinchuuriki of the Two Tails, or her elimination if that is not possible."

'Damn, he was right about low odds wasn't he?'

"Our latest reports show that she is currently residing within Kumo at the moment and will be staying there for some time." He pointed at me. "Kyuu(nine) will be your point of entry and exit to the village. Take the next three hours to go over your strategy and then move out with Ichi being your leader. Make sure to burn the folders when you are done. Dismissed."

As soon as he said that a ding partially distracted me as I followed everyone else out of the room towards a nearby room where we could go over everything.

 **Ding! Quest Received.**

 **Taming the Cat**

 **Duration: 2 weeks**

 **The jinchuuriki of the Two Tailed beast needs to be eliminated. If you fail there will be drastic consequences for both yourself and Konoha.**

 **Rewards: 30,000xp, 50,000 ryo, ?**

'Great. Another quest that promises dire consequences for failure. Why couldn't I get nice easy quests?' The answer came to me a moment later and I repressed the sigh that was threatening to come out. 'It wouldn't be a quest then but a task.' I mentally dismissed the popup and focused on the folder as I started flipping through it. I had to raise an eyebrow at the amount of detail here. Sure it didn't give the exact layout of patrol schedules but it did give commonly patrolled areas and a quite detailed layout of Kumo. 'I wonder how many people died to give us this information?'

I set that thought aside for the moment and looked at a photo of the target. It wasn't the best as it was obviously taken at a distance but I could still make out enough of her to pick her out of a crowd. The list of her known abilities was underneath the photo and it seemed pretty standard for a jonin although being able to fully control her two tailed state was incredibly worrying. There was a bit more to work through after that but I finished reading it quickly and then burned it all to ash as the rest of the agents followed suit.

Ichi brought out a map of the elemental nations and laid it down on the table as we all leaned in to get a better look. "Alright, we have to infiltrate Kumo within the next 5 days." He tapped the bottleneck on the border between Snow and Cloud country. "With such a massive increase in numbers on the border we have to get around the blockage and we will do that by going here." Ichi pointed at the North most tip of Iron country which drew some whispers as they saw how long a journey across the open sea we would have to take.

"Quiet." Ichi commanded and the muttering stopped. "We'll reach here and rest for the night before making the journey across the sea. Bring plenty of chakra pills if you think you can't make it but if we do this we'll be behind the majority of their patrols."

I felt the need to add my two cents to the topic. "I can help with the crossing." 8 heads swiveled to me but I pressed on. "My chakra regenerates quicker than I lose it when water walking so I can carry people if need be." I could feel the incredulous stares even underneath their masks and I shuffled in place when I heard one of them say, "Lucky bastard," under their breath.

I kept my focus on Ichi who slowly nodded which relieved the majority of the tension I felt for revealing that. Quests, and the severity of this mission, were incredibly important and I would not jeopardize it because I wanted to fit in. "I'll keep that in mind. Now once we make landfall we'll rest for the night and slowly make our way through the mountains to Kumo. Once we get close enough we'll stop and wait for nightfall before Kyuu will provide the infiltration route."

I took that as my queue to speak up again. "My technique allows anyone I am physically touching or connected via chakra string to travel to a separate dimension. You can only stay there for an hour before things will become increasingly fatal to you and everyone but me experiences severe nausea upon entering and exiting." Finding out what happened to people who stayed longer than an hour had not been pretty. Seeing a volunteered prisoner being ripped apart from the inside out was more than a bit horrifying.

"Then we'll use that thirty minutes out from Kumo. Drop in, set up charges, slap a ludicrous amount of chakra seals on the target and high tail it out of there. That's where the dangerous portion starts." I sent Ichi a weird look even though he couldn't see it. 'Was the first portion not dangerous?'

"From there we have to transport a highly deadly prisoner through Kumo held land to here." Ichi tapped on the border of Kiri. "We need to balance escaping with leaving enough of a trail that Kumo trackers can follow us to Kiri throwing the blame on them whilst also avoiding both rebel and loyalist forces all while keeping our prisoner from escaping."

'Shit. I volunteered for a suicide mission didn't I? I'm an idiot.' I looked around at the 8 other people contemplating the mission. 'Oh well, at least I'm with similar minded people.'

Ichi rolled up the map and put it away. "Alright. You have 30 minutes to grab whatever you feel is necessary then meet back here. Dismissed." The room emptied except for Ichi and I as the rest left to stock up on more than the standard Root package that everyone carried. "You're not going as well?"

I shook my head and leaned against the wall. "I always carry everything I need with me." Ichi just grunted at that and copied me as we waited for everyone to return. 30 minutes later everyone had assembled and it was time to move out.

"Kyuu, use your jutsu now so we can get a feel for it."

The order made sense so I stretched out my chakra strings to connect with everyone before softly calling out, "ID Create: Empty." The world broke and reformed around us as my jutsu took effect. Everyone seemed to be shaken by the experience but none of them vomited so I think we're off to a good start.

"Damn. You weren't kidding about the nausea." San said as she shivered.

"Suck it up and let's get a move on." Ichi called out so we set out at our quickest sustainable pace North. Being in the ID Empty was always a little strange to be honest. It was just so… quiet. Nothing was alive here but the 9 of us as we sped along. At the 45 minute mark we exited the ID to land back in the real world and although no one said anything I could tell that they were all glad to be gone from that place.

Time passed and we reached the borders of Iron country. Iron country itself was an odd place. It was considered completely neutral in the eyes of all Hidden villages and even though it did not have any ninjas of its own the country had never been taken over. This was probably due to the legions of samurai retainers that the daimyo had and whilst they were far inferior in terms of external chakra usage such as ninjutsu and genjutsu they more than made up for it in internal chakra usage. Every single one of them was at least the speed of a genin and that made them a formidable fighting force.

Thankfully they seemed content to sit in their little corner of the world and export iron and other metals to the rest of us. I suppose that was also why no Hidden Village had tried to invade them. They were scared of losing their supply of metal if they lost.

We slipped around the border patrols and continued North until we reached our resting point for the day. Of course the fun didn't end there and we had to fortify the area while making it seem like we weren't even here before setting up a watch for the night. While the others slept I stayed awake for the night and nobody gave me any grief for it except Ichi.

 _Why are you still up_? Ichi tapped on my leg as he settled next to me.

 _I don't require much sleep. It won't affect my performance in any way._

 _If you say so, but if it does I'll knock you out myself._ He left it at that and rose to head to his watch spot.

As the sun began to rise over the horizon everyone stirred and we began the process of erasing our presence which didn't take too long to do. After that we set out across the sea with four of us floating along due to me connecting 5 chakra strings per person. I actually felt a bit embarrassed that I hadn't improved the skill at all in the last two years. All those other fancy jutsu and the new bloodline had distracted me from one of my first skills. I vowed to spend some time on it later.

We were about 12 hours into our journey when I switched who was floating along because the other 4 were starting to show signs of slowing down which was pretty good considering that it took double the amount chakra to walk on rough waters such as the sea. Regardless they didn't complain about being carried along because who would complain about having a free nap during a mission. It took another 10 hours before we actually hit landfall and we went for another hour inland just to get away from the shoreline before we set up our camp.

After a rather tense resting period we set off at around midafternoon. Kumo was a naturally mountainous area and that slowed down our movement even further considering we had to keep an eye out for any enemy patrols. There weren't any scheduled for the area in the briefing but no intel is flawless and indeed we had to hide at one point as a squad of chunin passed less than 400 meters away. Thankfully they didn't detect us and we were able to continue moving after waiting for an hour to make sure they were gone.

It took another day to creep through the increasingly dense patrols but we got within a two hour journey to Kumo before stopping. As we hid ourselves amongst the sparse foliage Ichi released a sparrow that took off in the direction of Kumo. I could only assume that it was a means for communicating with a spy within Kumo because it returned several hours later and Ichi gave us the signal that the mission was to proceed. I waited tensely until the moon had risen and hung nearly overhead.

'It was time.'

Everyone rose and we stealthily made our way through the mountains until it came time for my part. "ID Create: Empty," I said and the world broke around us once more. The time for stealth was almost gone and we raced as fast as we could into Kumo. Someone would no doubt sense the chakra flare from my technique and would investigate where it came from but by then we would already be inside and thankfully the exiting portion was similar to a whisper instead of a shout.

Kumo itself was a beautiful village that seemed to have been carved from the surrounding mountain peaks to form a city within the clouds. Which is probably where the name came from come to think of it. Regardless we were heading towards one of the outer peaks where their jinchuuriki had been placed to ensure that if she went berserk she would do minimal damage to the village. 

We found an alley about two blocks away from the target's home and exited my ID to return to the real world. This was one of the more dangerous portions of the plan because we would have no idea what was there until we exited but after a hurried scan we found nobody near us.

 _Team B set charges. You have 5 minutes._

Go(five) through Haichi(8) jumped away to go place numerous explosive tags around the area. While I didn't like the idea of hitting a mainly civilian target the explosion would cover our tracks and muddy the chakra signature left behind when I performed my ID Create so I accepted it as necessary. I perked up at the sound of voices coming towards us. One annoyed sounding female and a slurred male voice, probably from drinking.

"Is fine." The male voice belched out.

"No it is not fine Daisuke. This is the third time this week. What would mom think?"

"Du know cause my sista wouln't tell on me." There was a slight pause. "I gotta take a piss." He hiccupped and I heard an annoyed sigh.

"Fine. Go in that alley over there." A boy of about 15 stumbled into the alley but the main thing I saw about him was his Kumo headband strapped to his forehead. If them making a racket hadn't sealed their fate this did. We couldn't take the chance that this was a ruse of some kind and they needed to be eliminated before they could draw too much attention to us. As Daisuke was fumbling around with his pants I dropped behind him and blew a cloud of fast acting knockout gas in his face.

He dropped like a sack of stones but I made sure he didn't make too much noise as he hit the ground. The only sound left was an impatient tapping as the girl waited outside the alleyway. "Daisuke, you done yet?" The only response was a resounding snore from him and I heard the unmistakable sound of someone hitting their forehead.

A young girl of about 13 peeked around the corner and groaned at the sight. "Oh come on." She ground out as she entered the alleyway and I noted the Kumo headband on her left arm. "Why do I have to be the responsible one here when-" whatever she was about to say was cut off by a soft cracking noise as Ichi appeared behind her and twisted her head around, killing her nearly instantly. His masked face turned to me making his intent clear and I reached down to break Daisuke's neck as well.

Once that was done Ichi sealed the bodies away in a scroll and we resumed waiting for Team B to finish setting up the explosives. We didn't have to wait long and after we regrouped we set off to the target's house. Entering a sleeping jonin's house is always a risk and not just from the owner. If a person has reached the rank of jonin they're almost always justifiably paranoid and it would seem that Yugito was the same as we were met with a veritable maze of traps leading further into her house.

Methodically Go traveled further and further through the death maze and we followed along placing our feet exactly where he did and not touching anything. It took a good 15 minutes to travel from Yugito's door to her bedroom and I for one was extremely tense the entire way. Even as we gathered around her bed and she still slept the tension never left me. It was only as my teammates slammed chakra suppression tags on her as her eyes sprung open and the world broke to bring us to the relative safety of my ID did the tension dissipate.

It was a mistake.

With a wordless roar cloyingly thick chakra sprung from her body. I saw her raging blue chakra cover her completely as the seals meant to suppress her literally overloaded from the amount of chakra and burnt to ash. We, as a team, had flinched at the appearance of her chakra cloak and the horrifying beast behind it which Yugito hadn't wasted.

As she slashed her arms to the sides chakra claws formed on her hands neatly bisecting two of our members in moments. 'We need space.' I thought as their bodies began to fall and lightning jumped from my hands to strike Yugito as I burst out of her house to gain some distance. Apart from twitching slightly as the lightning hit her it didn't seem to have much effect and the various kunai and shuriken bounced off her chakra cloak as well as the remainder of my team threw them while falling back.

"Code Black," I heard Ichi call out as Yugito's house exploded outward and hundreds of fiery blue mice swarmed towards us. With no convenient source of water nearby I had no chance to gather enough water quickly enough to quell the small horde that had split off to head towards me. Thinking quickly I ran through hand signs as fast as I could summoning a wall of crystal to cut off the horde of mice. They collided with my hastily formed wall and exploded in a flash of flames but my hastily made wall held giving me enough time to regain my bearings on the fight.

I turned just in time to see the chakra clad Yugito catch Go's sword with her hand before lashing out to remove Go's head and San being overwhelmed by flaming mice. Our response was immediate and every sort of elemental attack was sent towards her. She flung Go's body into the path of my lightning spears and then sent a humungous wave of flame which overwhelmed the two flame dragons while dodging the spikes of earth that burst from the ground.

'Fuck.' I sent nearly invisible waves of cutting wind at her which she didn't even bother to notice as they splashed against her chakra cloak ineffectually. Another horde of flaming mice spewed from her mouth and I had to create a wall of crystal to block them as Ichi's right arm was torn off. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck! We're being picked apart! What can I do?'

Suddenly there was no time to think as she was right before me and I tried to dodge her incoming punch. I wasn't nearly fast enough and then I felt nothing but pain as her hand went through my chest, ignoring the body armor and crystal armor underneath, as the corrosive nature of her chakra burned me. 'Damnit.' I grabbed her arm and tried to ignore the feel of my flesh burning as a rasengan formed in my right hand.

'Please work,' I prayed to whatever God was listening as I rammed it into her neck. It felt like I was pushing through thick mud and the swirling ball in my hand started to dissipate before I pushed more and more chakra into it in a desperate attempt to tear through her chakra. The rasengan swelled in size and with one final push it broke through her cloak to tear through her neck.

I could only hear the ragged sounds of my own breath as her lifeless body fell before me, her arm slipping from my chest with a wet squelch, and I stared blankly at her body for a moment in a daze. 'I can't believe that worked.' I thought before my blank gaze caught sight of the copious amounts of blood flowing down my body.

'I have a hole in my chest.' I thought still dazed from winning before realization set in. 'I have a fucking hole in my chest where my heart is and I'm still alive!' I hastily checked my health and saw it was at a quarter health and dropping quickly. My eyes widened and two clones appeared next to me, hands glowing green, as they went to work healing me.

"Holy shit." I looked up to see Ni standing staring at me or more accurately the large hole in my chest.

"I'll be fine." I rasped out having to work with only one lung at the moment as my left one got destroyed along with my heart. 'At least physically I'll be fine. Not so sure about mentally right now. Still kind of freaking out that I don't have a heart right now.'

She just gave me a very shaky nod and collected Yugito's body to put into a scroll when a thought popped into my head. "Ni, where's the Two Tailed beast?"

She didn't look up from her work. "It's gone for now. Since you killed its container it should disperse and reform again within a couple years."

"Okay, but will it reform in this dimension or the real world?"

The question was enough to get her to stop and look up at me. "That's a good question and I don't know." Her head moved down fractionally and I knew she was staring at the rapidly closing hole in my chest. "When will you be able to move out?"

"Ah," I glanced at my health bar and did some mental math. Since I was no longer bleeding I had a net gain of 80hp/min so 15 minutes until I was fully healed. "Give me 20 minutes to make sure everything is good to go. Is Ichi still alive?" Her nod was answer enough and I slowly made my way over to where I saw him fall to see the two other remaining squad mates tending to him. In addition to losing his arm I saw that he had deep lacerations across his chest and his leg was bent at an unnatural angle.

Everyone looked towards me as I came into sight and while they didn't have an outburst like Ni did I could tell they were shocked at my appearance. Ignoring it for now I made my way over to Ichi and knelt down near his head. "Ichi, do you want me to heal you?" I had to ask because Lord Danzo and Minato had both ordered me to never use Angel's Breath outside of Konoha without express permission from a superior officer. Since we were in a dimension of my own creation and nothing was here except us I felt it was fine to just go ahead and do it but protocol is important.

"Yes." He hissed out and that settled it. I made the required hand signs as quickly as possible with my burned left hand and shortly enough Ichi was back to full health while I was still wounded. It was quite unfortunate that I couldn't use shadow clones to use Angel's Breath on myself. I had tried before and all that happened was the technique fizzling out on me.

While Ichi got used to having everything back in place I settled into a meditative stance as I tried to regain some of my chakra while my clones healed me. I only got 5 minutes or so of rest before I was shaken by Ichi.

"We need to go. The explosives must have gone off by now and we need to get some distance away from Kumo so we can start laying down a trail."

"Really? I still don't have a heart!" He didn't say anything and I hung my head. "Fine! I really hate this mission."

 **Author's Footnote: How many of you thought I was going to make Shiro a jinchuuriki?**

 **Age: 8 years - 1 month**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 28 - 89% to next LVL**

 **HP: 815/1,610**

 **Chakra: 45,509/63,714**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 169(219)**

 **VIT: 161**

 **END: 159**

 **DEX: 174(191)**

 **INT: 151(161)**

 **WIS: 132(141)**

 **LCK: 30**

 **Points: 74**

 **Money: 671,359**


	30. Escape from Kumo

**Author's Note: I want to thank KnightOfGlory26 for his fanart which is now the cover image for this story.**

I rose from my meditative pose and Ichi handed me a Kiri hunter mask. It was mostly white with Kiri's symbol on the forehead and purple swirls going around the sides. I quickly turned to the side and slipped the new mask on while storing the old one in my inventory. Turning back around I saw the remaining members; Ichi, Ni, Roku and Shichi waiting for me with their new masks on.

"Right we need to move. Kyuu, from now on don't use any crystal jutsu and everyone should try to stick to water jutsu as much as possible." We all acknowledged him and then set off towards the South. There was no need to keep wearing compromised armor so as we ran I slipped out of my armor and put on a new set.

The run was enlightening to me as well and not in a great way. There was no question that a normal human or hell even a ninja would still be alive after losing a heart and a lung. I was not only alive, and running, but having no real trouble keeping up with everyone even though I should be out of breath. It brought the uncomfortable question of whether or not I even needed to breath and I had just been unconsciously breathing because that was considered normal before I died.

'No.' I firmly crushed the thought. 'I already don't need to eat, drink or sleep and I refuse to throw away what little I have left in common with other people.' With that troubling thought thrown away I looked back through my notifications that had appeared during the fight but I had been too distracted to read them. Most of them were about health loss and one bleeding status effect that I already resolved but there was one new skill.

 **Ding!**

 **Corrosive Chakra Resistance (Passive) LVL 1 – 38%**

 **Reduces the effects of the Tailed Beast's corrosive charka properties by 1%.**

A useful skill I suppose but if I never had a reason to level it I would be happy. I was distracted by the rush of new memories as my clone, which had been healing me, popped letting me know I was back to full health once more.

Looking forward I saw Ichi stop in a gully and I dropped down next to him. "Alright, take us out of here." Chakra strings extended to everyone and once they were secure I took us out of the ID.

As we landed back in the real world the first thing I heard was the distant clanging alarm coming from the North. The first thing I saw was that we had exited right in front of a chunin patrol. The world seemed to freeze as both sides tried to come to terms with the other before I acted. I knew my teammates would be moving much slower than normal after just coming out of the ID so as quickly as I could I created a thick obscuring mist to hide in so we could recover.

The mist seemed to form from nowhere. It was so thick I couldn't even see my hand if I held it in front of my face but it didn't matter to me. Not even one of the chunin had learned how to hide their chakra signature yet so they all stood out to me like a beacon in the dark. I leapt to the left along with Ni while everyone else went right as lightning flashed through our last position.

To their credit they didn't panic and managed to form a diamond pattern with their backs to each other in a short amount of time. 'Time to test their formation.' I felt a jutsu form on the other side of them and sent in my own wind blades at them so they would have to react to two fronts as well as sent a clone underground. There was a cry of pain that echoed out from the mist and I felt one of their signatures flutter then die just as my clone reached their position. One of the chunin's signatures suddenly shot downward into the ground before it disappeared and my clone popped, its task complete.

Another startled shout echoed out before being cut off as I felt Ichi appear next to the last chunin that was still standing before their signature disappeared as well. Satisfied with the results I let the mist fade away to reveal Ichi standing over one of the corpses cleaning off his blade and a heavily injured chunin nearby. The injured chunin must have been from my wind blades yet Ichi didn't move to finish him off and instead motioned us to leave.

Confused but not willing to speak up about it I leapt after him and as we left the gully I saw a scroll "slip" from Ichi's pouch to fall onto the ground. 'Ah, I see, so this is the bait and the survivor was a witness. A little flimsy but they would come after us just for the chunin we killed.'

 _What was in the scroll?_ I signed to Ichi.

 _Yugito's head._ 'Well that would definitely send them sprinting after us.' _Good thinking with the mist._

I acknowledged it and kept on running. About 20 minutes after the fight two red flares shot up behind us alerting us to the fact that the chase was now on.

 _It's too soon. Ni set up some road blocks for any pursuers._

She nodded and three clones appeared next to her. Before they could leave I tossed each of them a scroll roll.

 _I made some proximity seals. Set them up and get further than 15 meters away in 30 seconds. They react to the amount of chakra in the area and explode if there is more than a genin's worth nearby._

They were actually one of the first seals that I made from scratch, with Kushina supervising of course, and they were almost like a claymore. You see regular explosive tags simply expanded in a ball of pressure and fire when they went off sometimes leaving the target singed but alive. My seals had a storage component where I put bits of iron scrap so there would be fire and an expanding arc of flying metal pieces. Kushina had simply praised me for my ingenuity and then told me to never use them near allies which was more than fair. They couldn't tell chakra apart so they were a danger to everyone once they had been activated.

After I explained the seals Ni's clones had bounded off and not 5 minutes later explosions lit up the night behind us. To my eyes they were a bit too close for comfort really as it meant our pursuers were right behind us. Movement in the distance caught my eye and I focused in on the area to see a young man, probably a genin, shift around as he tried to hide. Almost as soon as I spotted him what I assumed was their jonin sensei stepped out of the shadows to look back and forth between the explosions in the distance then us. I could almost see the indecision before she grabbed the genin and dragged him further away.

 _One jonin and one genin with more possible at 9 o'clock._

 _Acknowledged. Mist, clone and shift right._

I created another bank of mist and each of us created a clone that continued on our original direction while we took off 30 degrees to the right. The sound of explosions in the distance was tapering off as our pursuers became more cautious as they followed us which was good as it gave us a greater lead on them.

After about an hour my clone popped in the distance and the news it relayed was grim. Killer B was after us and boy did he seem pissed off. The amount of chakra he was putting out dwarfed Yugito's by a large margin and 4 of us had died just to kill her. I didn't even need to relay the information because I felt the mood become even tenser before Roku signaled for a stop.

 _20 enemies ahead from 10 to 2 o'clock about 5 minutes from interception._

20 enemies was too much for us to handle unless they were all genin which they were surely not. I glanced at everyone else and lamented the fact that I couldn't just keep popping us in and out of the ID. Extensive testing with Orochimaru had shown that people who went into the ID needed about 4 times the amount of time outside of it for every minute spent in it otherwise whatever was tearing them apart would, well, tear them apart and we couldn't afford injuries right now.

I heard a tsking sound from Ichi so I refocused my attention on him. _Clones forward while we head East. Kyuu, make more clones to give us a concealing mist._

We complied and our clones were sent forward in a suicidal run while we started running to the left. I also made several water clones who shot off in every direction as mist sprung up around us. All too soon the sounds of combat sprung up behind us and I felt a team of probable chunin pass uncomfortably close by as they tried to circle around and entrap our battling clones. Thankfully they didn't notice us and we were able to escape the encirclement. As we burst through the edge of the thick mist I was distracted by the familiar sound of a pop up.

 **Ding! Level up.**

'Huh, must have killed enough people with seals and back in the mist to level.' I grimaced as my clone burst giving me the memory of a fiery demise just after I had stuck a sword in someone's chest. Our course altered to resume heading Southward and I couldn't help but think about those 79 banked points just sitting in my menu. Now would be a good time to use them but could I use them without slowing everyone down?

The one time I did use them I was incapacitated as my brain literally rewired itself to give me a perfect memory. Would something similar happen if I tried to increase my physical stats? What about luck?

I almost snorted at that. Luck was… nebulous. I wasn't sure how changing it would affect me and to be honest it was the one stat I was most wary off. If I changed it would it start to affect the real world if it got high enough? Would my enemies start missing me? Would the world itself bend to accommodate my luck? We took a sharp right to avoid another band of enemies and I closed my eyes for a moment. 'We need all the luck we can get right now.'

I poured 20 points into luck and read the blue screen that popped up.

 **Ding!**

 **Gained Loaded Dice (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 10% increase for a favorable outcome in games of chance.**

 **Learned Jinx (Active 100 – 700) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Have you ever had a bad day where nothing seems to go right? Well that's too bad but misery loves company so spread it around. The target will experience minor annoyance after minor annoyance for a minimum of a day to a maximum of a week. This can cause minor injuries but the target will never die as a result of this curse.**

I don't know what I was expecting but I was hoping for something more than a prank skill. Oh sure it could probably be used for combat but the part tacked onto the end was a bit of a letdown. I blinked as soon as I thought that and ruefully shook my head. Not every skill had to be about killing your enemy but I seemed to have fallen into that mind set.

We had to switch our direction again to avoid another group of pursuers. They seemed to be coordinating a bit more than before and I couldn't help but feel like a fox during a fox hunt. The groups of enemies being the hounds and Killer B the huntsman. Shaking off the stray thought I focused back on the skill.

Still that bit on the end was odd. If I used jinx on someone and then tried to kill them would I be unable to or was it meant to be literal? As in this curse can injure but never kill while outside forces can still kill them. If that was the case then it was a great skill for combat. Who doesn't want your enemies to have horrendous luck when you're fighting them?

A sudden outpouring of potent chakra behind us caused me to swivel my head around. In the distance, yet still far too close for comfort, a huge oxen head reared as eight squid like tails rose behind it. I heard someone swear but I really wasn't paying attention. It would seem that Killer B was playing for keeps right now by going into a full tailed state. I turned back around to see Roku already signing at us.

- _there is a cordon of forces in front of us._ 'So that was a display to force us into a panic and run into a trap.'

 _Is there any way around it?_ Ichi asked and Roku seemed to spend a moment concentrating before shaking his head.

 _They've encircled us. The poor fools._ I had to smile at Shichi's comment. She seemed like a fun person.

 _Quite right. Kyuu do you have any more of those seals of yours?_ I pulled out another roll of them and I could almost feel Ichi's smile. _Good. Create some mist to give us concealment while we set up those seals. Once we're done we'll escape this trap using your jutsu._

I handed off the roll of seals to them and they split off to go set them up as I created another wall of mist to surround us. Then I created a water clone to maintain the mist when we left so whoever came close would be blind. Not even a minute later everyone rejoined me and I brought them to my ID.

"Okay you guys should be able to stay in here for about 30 minutes so let's make the most of it." They all nodded and we set off at our best speed to the South. We made it pretty far away from where Kumo tried to entrap us before we were forced to return to the real world. Thankfully this time we didn't end up smack dab in the middle of an enemy patrol and we continued onwards.

Based on the topography of the area, the patrol schedule intel and the amount of forces that tried to entrap us back there I could assume that surrounding area was lacking in forces able to stop us. I was quickly proven correct as we didn't run into a patrol for hours. In fact we were actually nearing the sea before we started running into patrols again.

By this time we had been running for hours and hours on end and the sun was high above our heads. Nobody mentioned anything about stopping though as we needed to get beyond Kumo's borders before the news caught up to us and they tightened their patrols on their Southern border. The random chunin left alive and the scroll would point to Kiri in a flimsy way but unless Ichi planted more "evidence" that I wasn't aware of it was a paper thin lie at the moment.

 _Is there anything else we're doing to implicate Kiri?_ I asked and there was a long moment before Ichi shrugged.

 _All we can do now is just get to Kiri. They should be able to find our chakra trail and if we hip hop across the islands they should be able to follow us all the way to Kiri._

 _They can do that?_ I swear I felt bemusement from the rest of them as we reached the water and after we were out of sight of anyone watching I picked them all up with my chakra strings. Almost immediately everyone but Ichi fell asleep and I couldn't blame them for it.

 _Whenever we empower ourselves to go faster with chakra we leave an imprint of chakra in the air and ground. It's a really minor trail being such a simple skill and it'll usually fade within a couple of hours but with everything we've been throwing around they'll get a good feel for it and be able to follow our trail pretty easily._

Huh. Taking this into consideration it really does seem like an operation gone wrong. We took out the target, Yugito, muddied our chakra signatures by exploding everything and then simply had the misfortune to come upon an enemy patrol. This could actually work.

 _I'm going to sleep as well. Head for Ishigaki island and wake us about an hour out from it._

I acknowledged it and he went to sleep as well leaving just me running along. I continued running as the sun shone down on us and the only sound was the lapping of waves and the distant cry of sea gulls. It was peaceful and I allowed myself to relax slightly until 4 hours later as I had to wake everyone up as we were approaching Ishigaki island.

The island itself was a heavily disputed island that was about midway between the lands of Kumo and Kiri. Kiri claimed it was theirs because they were an island nation and the large island boasted a major natural harbor making it perfect for trade. Kumo of course wanted it as well for many of the same reasons but sometime during the Second Shinobi war Kiri had gained control of it and never relinquished it since although that was not to say that Kumo hadn't tried.

Usually there would be quite a few forces here guarding the island but with the recent civil turmoil taking place the defending force had been stripped down to a skeleton crew. This made it quite a bit easier for us to slip onto the island quietly where we waited for several hours to allow any pursuing force to gain on us and ensure that they could find our chakra trail if necessary.

Once that was done we set out again towards Kiri leaving Ishigaki island behind as we ran across the waves. The sun set and the moon rose then nearly set itself before we came to one of the many small islands that made up the nation of Kiri and its namesake mist. It wasn't thick enough to be a real problem but it was seemingly ever present and a bit of a bother.

For now we continued onwards traveling further and further towards the heart of Kiri. As we traveled I saw the devastation that the civil war had already caused as we passed by abandoned homes and bodies swaying in the breeze as they swung from trees. I even heard the sounds of battle carry over the water sometimes as the rebel and loyalist forces fought. Whenever such things occurred we shifted away from the fighting and just continued onwards.

By the time the sun had passed its zenith and was dropping down over the horizon we cut Westward towards Konoha held lands. Nothing particularly interesting happened during that time although I noticed everyone taking the time to down some type of pill. When Ichi offered me one I saw that it was a chakra and caffeine pill so I declined. We kept running until we came to a small outcrop of land barely 30 meters wide and almost submerged in the lapping water.

 _We'll stop here for the time being. Then we'll wait for two days to see if there is any pursuit._

I took another look around the godforsaken rock with nothing on it and held back a sigh. 'This was going to be really tedious.' Of course I didn't say boring even in my mind because that would invite the universe to screw you over. Thankfully? Our luck held out and nothing came close to us in the two days that we spent on this rock getting coated in water and salt. It was not a fun experience but it certainly beat fighting for our lives I suppose.

At the end of the second day we traded our Kiri hunter masks back for our Root ones and took off for Konoha. It took a day and a half to reach but as the village walls came into sight I had to bite back a sigh of relief. I was going to relish taking a bath and removing all the accumulated grime off me. The others seemed eager to get back as well if their increased speed was any indication.

Before we could relax we had to report in so just a short time later I found myself standing at attention while Ichi related what had happened on our mission to Lord Danzo while he listened intently. Several times during the report one of us would have to take over talking as Ichi couldn't be everywhere at once and during when I reported how I killed Yugito his eyes had briefly flickered to my chest but he made no comment on it. When we were finally done he leaned back in his chair before reaching down to a drawer and pulling out 4 slips of paper.

"I want to thank each and every one of you for what you've done you've done Konoha a great service." He paused for a moment and then bowed his head. "I know losing a comrade is always hard and for the next two weeks consider yourselves off duty." He stood up and walked over to hand the slips of paper to Ichi. "I expect a written report of the mission by tomorrow morning but for now you have something to do."

"Of course sir." Ichi slipped the pieces of paper into a pouch and saluted Danzo.

"Dismissed." He said quietly and we all filed out of the room.

 **Ding!**

 **Quest Taming a Cat complete!**

 **Rewards: 30,000xp, 50,000 ryo and the rank of Special Jonin**

I quickly read over the popup and refrained from making a face. For the amount of trouble that the quest gave me I would have thought the mystery reward would have been something more than a promotion. Whatever. I made to leave but Ichi's hand clamped down on my shoulder stopping me. I looked back at him and tilted my head curiously but he just shook his head.

"Just follow us." I followed along for now until we reached a large room that I hadn't been in before with rows of stones with writing on each of them. As I got closer I noticed that the writing was actually names and I suddenly understood what this was about.

We slowly walked until there was an empty area before we stopped and each of them took off their masks. I only hesitated for a moment before I took mine off as well while Ni took out a bottle of sake and poured each us a cup full. While she was doing that Ichi was using some type of earth jutsu to carve four new names into the stone and once he was done he turned to face us, receiving a cup of sake from Ni.

"We gather here today to honor those of us that have passed before us." Ichi solemnly intoned as he raised his glass. "Though neither your names nor deeds will be known to all but a select few we honor the sacrifice that you have made in the line of duty. It is our privilege to stand before such heroes and it is our responsibility to carry on their legacy. May you rest easy knowing that your duty is finally over and may you find peace in your final resting place." There was a long moment of silence after Ichi finished his speech before, at some unseen cue, we all took a deep drink from our cups.

"So," Roku began some thirty minutes after our first toast and subsequent refills, "who wants to join me in taking a nice long bath?"

"I do." Shichi chimed in with both Ichi and Ni agreeing soon after. The change from the solemn and serious mood to a seemingly cheerful one threw me off balance for a bit and I merely nodded when they looked at me to see if I would join. I suppose being surrounded by death for so long you begin to harden yourself for the inevitable and I think that was what was going on here with them. They cared, don't get me wrong, but they didn't let grief drag them down or they hid it well.

Regardless we went to a private mixed bath within the base and after washing myself thoroughly I joined all of them relaxing in the hot water while sipping sake. This went on for a while before I noticed them giving each other glances and after clearing his throat Ichi spoke up. "Um, Kyuu, while it's great to have you here do you think you could leave while we have some… adult discussions."

I felt like laughing as he danced around the subject. Sure you can order a kid to kill other people but talking about sex is a big no no. Just for that I'm going to tease them a bit. "Um, okay I guess." I scratched my cheek awkwardly. "Do you want a jutsu to help with your… adult discussions?"

It was glorious to see them sputter until Shichi sent a coy smile my way. "Now why would you know something like that?"

"Oh, well I did have Jiraiya as a teacher for a bit and he taught me this jutsu that all the adults seem to love." I shrug helplessly. "I don't know why though it seems pointless to me." I had their attention now and after Shichi prompted me to continue I performed the tongue extension jutsu before waving my meter long tongue at them.

Shichi burst out laughing. "You're so cute I could just gobble you up." She pulled me closer and gave me a peck on the cheek. "If only you were a bit older but then we'd have to go through that sensei of yours." She let out a low chuckle. "Thanks for the jutsu but it's time to leave and let the adults play for a bit."

"Don't mention it." I muttered as I retreated from the room. Shichi had turned the table around on me at the end there and as soon as the door was closed I heard giggles from inside.

Blocking off any stray sounds with an application of chakra to my ears I got dressed and left them to their fun. I suppose that that's another way to get over grief. I just wish I knew my remaining teammates names but if they didn't volunteer them it was… improper to ask. It was just the way Root and ANBU worked I suppose.

On the way out of the base I had a sudden thought that caused me to do a 180 and head towards the mission desk. I had vowed to kill the fat bastard and now was as good a time as any to put a hit out on him. The mission room was mostly empty and I grabbed the forms necessary to start the mission rolling. One tedious session of paperwork later I plopped the papers down on the desk along with 80,000 ryo.

The agent behind the desk skimmed it over and pulled out a scroll which he read before giving me a nod. "The target is not on the do no assassinate list so your request to kill him in a painful yet humiliating manner within a 2 to 6 month period is accepted, pending approval." He started stamping things and then paused and looked at me. "I have to ask. Why don't you just do it yourself?"

I gave him a lazy shrug. "Maybe I want to help out the local economy and can't be bothered doing it myself."

"Heh. Fair enough." He started stamping my paperwork again and I left him to it. I was probably breaking some ninja code of allowing those you've slighted time to gather their strength but this way it would seem unrelated to Konoha and there would be one less pedophile in the world. A win-win scenario for everyone except him but I don't care about him so he doesn't matter.

Drinking sake with everyone had left me in the mood for more so I stopped by a liquor store and grabbed a few of their more expensive bottles. The clerk had been dubious selling to an 8 year old, ninja or not, but something in my expression convinced him to sell me the bottles. Once that was done I headed up to the top of the Hokage's mountain and settled in to watch the sun set.

Not even five minutes after I sat down I felt Hina's chakra come up behind me. "Hello Hina." I called out cheerfully as she sat down next to me.

"Hello Shiro." Her nose wrinkled as she watched me take a sip from my cup. "I saw you come back today and now I find you drinking alone on a mountain. Do you want to talk about it if you can?"

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eyes. 'Was that a hint about knowing that I'm in Root? That's dangerous territory she's straying into.' "Why Hina," I turned to her and batted my eyelashes. "I didn't know you cared so much. Oh I can see it now. You standing on the walls, holding a handkerchief, as you gaze off into the distance awaiting my return."

She sputtered but didn't turn red to my disappointment. I guess she built up a tolerance to my antics by now. Eventually she huffed and turned away with her arms crossed. "Fine. Be that way. It's not like I was worried when we got back and everyone was panicking because we're about to go to war then you disappeared without a trace for a week. Ass." The last part hurt coming from her and I let out a sigh.

"Can you check if anyone's around?" I saw her shift around and the veins around her eyes bulged for a moment.

"There's an ANBU close by." Almost as soon as she finished saying that I felt Saiko's chakra appear next to us and I looked up to grin at her.

"Hey there sensei. I was just about to tell all my woes to Hina. Want to join in?" I patted the ground next to me.

I could feel the long hard look even through the mask but in the end she sat down next to me. "Brat, if you're telling woes I'm going to need alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol." That was no problem at all and I simply pulled out another cup and poured her a glass.

"Hina, do you want a glass?" She was still looking at Saiko with an odd look on her face but my voice seemed to snap her out of it and she paused for a moment then shrugged.

"Sure, why not." I grinned and poured her a glass as well.

"So," I began after I handed Hina the glass. "I was taking an enthusiastic walk late at night."

"How enthusiastic?" Hina played along with the story.

"A very enthusiastic walk." I said emphasizing the very and laughed a little at the reference even though they wouldn't get it. "Now everything was going great. The sky was clear, the air crisp and I felt like I was on top of the world." I took a moment to swirl my sake before I took a sip. "Then along came an angry person who shoved their arm right through my chest." I tapped right above my heart and I saw Hina paling.

"What!?" Saiko's voice was oh so flat and the killing intent flowing off her was warping the air around her.

"B-But I didn't see any damage to your chest."

'Oh Hina, you really just set these things up perfectly. How could I not take advantage of that and not say a punchline?'

"Oh ho, Hina how bold. To check me out while pretending to be on the lookout for people." Her face turned bright red and I swear that steam came out of her ears before I felt an iron grip clamp down on my jaw and turn my head towards Saiko.

"Flirt later. Finish telling me how you got horrendously injured now!" I gulped convulsively and nodded until she let go.

"So, um, like I said an angry person punched a hole through my chest and I didn't have a heart or most of a left lung for 20 minutes. They're dead now, by the way, because I killed them for it. Still not having a heart for 20 minutes is kind of the reason why I'm up here drinking, even though it doesn't affect me, and I was going to just be contemplative for a bit." At the end of my hurried speech I saw Saiko's shoulders sag before she downed her cup and poured herself another.

"How did you survive?" There was a hint of awe and not a tiny amount of horror in Hina's voice. I turned back to her and saw that her blush was mostly gone although she was still a bit red.

I let out a chuckle that came out kind of bitter. "Apparently my body is special like that. I'm not even sure I can count as human anymore." There was a sharp pain on the back of my head and I turned to glare at Saiko who had her arm still extended after she hit me.

"Idiot. Just because you're different doesn't make you less human. Besides, you're still the annoying brat I had to train."

"Ah, I knew you cared sensei." She just huffed and drank some more.

"Um, I think she's right. You're still the same Shiro that teases me all the time." I looked back and forth between them as I grinned widely.

"Well if two beautiful women both tell me the same thing it must be right."

"Damn straight." Saiko muttered and Hina let out a giggle as I took a sip of the sake and looked up towards the night sky. It was good to have people that were able to keep me grounded.

 **Age: 8 years - 2 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 29 - 34% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,610/1,610**

 **Chakra: 63,714/63,714**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 169(219)**

 **VIT: 161**

 **END: 159**

 **DEX: 174(191)**

 **INT: 151(161)**

 **WIS: 132(141)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 59**

 **Money: 641,359**


	31. A New Frontier

**Author's Note: One thing to keep in mind is that in Canon Obito is puppeting the Mizukage using his sharingan at the moment just if you get confused by what happens.**

The three of us sat there on top of the Hokage's mountain drinking and generally avoiding any more sensitive topics until the sun had sunk completely behind the horizon. As the moon began to rise overhead Hina had enough of drinking and had staggered to her feet. Apparently even with chakra running through us it was easy for a 12 year old to get drunk. Who knew?

I couldn't just let her stumble on home without an escort so I picked her up into a princess carry. It was probably a testament to how drunk she was that she didn't even object to this and simply snuggled against me before falling fast asleep. I didn't envy her at all when she woke up tomorrow morning and I resolutely ignored Saiko's chuckling as we made our way over to the Hyuga compound.

The guards at the entrance barely gave us a raised eyebrow before waving Hina and I through while Saiko stayed outside. It almost seemed like they were lazy about security even with the recent kidnapping attempt if I didn't feel more than 10 guards with active chakra following me as I walked towards Hina's home. As I got closer I felt that her parents were already asleep so I walked up the side of their house and slipped through the window to Hina's room.

This was actually the first time I've ever been in her room before and even in the low light it wasn't hard to make out the mound of stuffed animals sitting in the corner. Other than the slightly feminine touch that seemed to pervade the room it was quite spartan and also noticeably lacking in traps of any kind. 'Just give it a few years though.' I thought as I tucked Hina into her bed and left as quietly as I could, shutting the window behind me. 'Even living in a clan compound she'll start setting traps up.'

Noticeably fewer guards followed me out to the gate of the compound and Saiko was still waiting for me at the entrance. She motioned me to follow and we went to her new house where we were greeted by a shadow clone of hers that popped as we arrived. Almost as soon as that happened Saiko dragged me into the living room and plopped me down onto her couch.

"Shiro…" she began tentatively before sighing and taking off her mask. I could see the concern in her eyes as she looked towards me. "I assume you can't talk about the mission at all."

I nodded. It was an SS rank secret. Even admitting that I was gone during the mission time was pushing it and I could possibly get in trouble for mentioning how badly I was injured even if there didn't seem to be any evidence to support that claim. The only reason I had told Hina anything at all was the silent approving presence of Saiko. I knew she would have stopped me if I went too far.

"Right." She ran a hand through her hair and seemed to suppress a sigh. "Ignoring that then I'm worried about your mental state after what you've told me."

I had to blink at that. Sure I had been a little conflicted about what had happened but I always knew in the back of my mind I wasn't like anyone else. "If this is about the sake you know it doesn't affect me." I tried to deflect it. The matter was over and done with as far as I was concerned.

"No! It's the fact that you questioned whether or not you're even human." She snapped at me. Her outburst was on the louder side and we both froze as we heard Takashi moving around in his sleep upstairs. After a moment or two the sounds of fussing tapered off and it seemed as though he went back to sleep. "I want you to go see someone." She said in a much quieter voice. "Your annual psyche evaluation is coming up soon anyways so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to reschedule it earlier."

I bit the inside of my lip at that. I kind of thought psyche evaluations on ninja were a bit of a waste of time. The prognosis was always that we're crazy with a side helping of any number of disorders. "Okay. I'll set up an appointment with Fuu for later."

She reached over and grabbed my hand. "I… Thank you for agreeing so easily. People I know that have had massive injuries can experience a radical change in personality or even depression. I'm sure if you hadn't been there it would have been the latter for me."

I gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm sure you would have pulled through just fine. You're one of the toughest people I know."

Her laugh was mirthless but she did squeeze my hand back. "I'm flattered that you have such a high opinion of me."

"If you're so flattered then you can help me keep the fact that I was injured so badly from Kushina." I said with a small smile.

"Oh," there was a spark of mischief in her eyes, "now why would you want to hide something like that from her?"

"Are you kidding me?" A cold shiver went down my spine at the thought of Kushina finding out about what happened. "Mom would probably tear down the village if she found out and the village of the one who injured me. I think the only thing that could possibly be worse is if Ramen was banned from the Land of Fire."

She seemed to shudder at the thought. "Kushina without Ramen to sate her would be a terrible sight to see indeed, but that's not what you want. Say I keep your secret. What would be in it for me?"

"Well…" I trailed off. I actually had no idea what she would want me to do for her. I already babysat Takashi, helped clean around the house, cooked and did the laundry. My eyes narrowed slightly. 'Wow she really turned me into a regular maid and I didn't even realize it. Did Kushina do that as well?' Upon review my memory I had to decide that she did not.

"What would interest you?" I asked to hit the ball back into her court as I had no idea what to offer her.

"Hmm," she started tapping her chin before she snapped her fingers. "Foot massages."

"Foot massages?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, you got really good at them when I was pregnant but then you stopped after Takashi was born."

I gave a resigned sigh but acquiesced to her demand. It was like I was married without any of the benefits. "How many and for how long?"

"Once every two days for a month and then 10 in reserve to be called at a later time. This will continue even if Kushina does find out and she will eventually. You know that right?"

Harsh terms but acceptable. "I accept and I know she will. I'll try to set it up so I'm far, far away from Konoha when it happens though. Hopefully Minato will be able to blunt her anger and besides he's my father which obligates him to protect me from threats even if it's my mom."

She let out a sharp laugh as she rubbed her hands together. "Yes I suppose he does." She sent a beautiful smile my way. "A pleasure doing business with you. I look forward to the results." A soft cry from upstairs made us both glance up before Saiko stood up from her chair. "I'll go take care of Takashi." As she walked around the couch she stopped for a moment and ruffled my hair. "After I get Takashi back to sleep I'm going to go to bed unless you need me."

I shook my head negatively and she continued on talking. "Alright then. Take care and I'll see you tomorrow for my first installment of foot massages."

I watched her leave and then listened to the sounds of Takashi fussing as Saiko attended to him for a while before I decided to leave. The cool air hit me as I stepped outside but it wasn't unpleasant. The Land of Fire didn't have a true winter where it snowed except perhaps in the northern most reaches of it and snow was one thing I missed from my past life. 'Still,' I looked up at the moon, 'what to do now?' I thought for a bit before nodding decisively. I had promised to work on my chakra strings and now was as good a time as any. With my mind made up I went on my way.

After the sun rose high into the sky I stopped my training and headed for Orochimaru's laboratory after a messenger found me. I suspected he wanted to test out my newfound vitality and sure enough that was the case. In the end though I stayed firm on not allowing him to punch holes through me even after he tempted me with high ranking jutsu. There were somethings I just didn't want to experience again if I didn't have to.

He was persistent though and I finally told him I had a new jutsu that I wanted to test out with him just to get him off my back. A civilian spy was brought in and I hit him with Jinx which for some reason was a bolt of bubbling pink chaotic energy. We both watched the spy for a bit with nothing happening to him before Orochimaru spoke, "So what does this justu do?"

As though him speaking was the trigger a chunk of the ceiling broke off and landed right on the spy's family jewels. We both winced in sympathy as his high pitched squealing made its way through the observational glass. "It causes bad luck." I mumbled as I watched the man fall to the ground after the chair he was strapped in broke beneath him.

Both of Orochimaru's eyes widened in disbelief. "You have a technique that violates causality?"

"I think it would be more appropriate to say it manipulates probability to cause bad things to happen to its target." For some reason a female guard had entered the observational room with a tray of food and somehow the spy ended up with his face between her breasts. Why she didn't dodge when she was a ninja and he a civilian remained a mystery but the beat down she did afterwards was educational.

"I can barely even fathom how that works. Kuhuhuhu." There was a maniacal grin on his face and an unholy light shining in his eyes. "We must do more testing." I whole heartedly agreed as long as it kept him from testing how much punishment my body could withstand.

The next few weeks proved to be rather stressful for the entire ninja population. We knew a potential war was on the horizon and yet we could do nothing to prevent this. During my walks around the village I saw quite a few ninja tersely discussing the upcoming conflict but they always trailed off or switched subjects when they saw me. A drawback of being the Hokage's son I suppose although the perk of being better informed was nice.

For example I knew we had refused the Kumo delegations demands for Hiashi's head because the new treaty outlined what would happen to people who killed a diplomat. Minato had torn the peace treaty to shreds in front of them after they pointed that out which wasn't surprising really. They all but admitted that this was a planned thing instead of a rogue agent like they were claiming if that buried wording within the treaty was any indication.

After that the entire delegation left in a bit of a hurry and there had been nothing but silence from Kumo since. It was a few days after they had left that I was sitting at Kushina's table as we ate Ramen and I swear that the Uzumaki clan are predisposed to loving Ramen as both Mito and Karin ate it with unusual gusto. It would probably be a recessive gene for taste buds or something along those lines that made Ramen almost addictively tasty to an Uzumaki but I would need more people to test that theory.

I was broken from my thoughts by the door opening and Minato entering. He looked resolute but almost relieved at the same time. "Hello everyone." There was a myriad of responses from all of us although both Mito and Karin barely looked up from their Ramen like the little addicts they were becoming. He gave a wide smile to us and ruffled everyone's hair but Kushina who he gave a kiss to.

"So," he said as he sat down. "I've just received news about Kumo." Both Kushina and I tensed and gave him our entire focus while Mito and Karin continued on eating, blissfully unaware of the seriousness of the conversation.

"Is that so?" Kushina said slowly as her eyes wrinkled. "It must be good news if you're able to sit down to dinner with us so calmly."

"Ah." He scratched his cheek and looked a little embarrassed. The slight rebuke for not spending time with his family even if his work was extremely important in her tone. "I'll try to work on that a bit. Maybe shadow clones." He muttered the last bit before he seemed to shake off whatever thoughts he was having.

"Anyways I have heard through official channels that Kumo is now in a state of war with Kiri." My mind went blank as he finished speaking. How? I mean sure we left some circumstantial evidence but why would they go to war over it?

Kushina seemed to be on the same track as I was because she blurted out, "What? Why?" Her outburst drew the attention of the girls but Kushina motioned to them that everything was fine and they cautiously went back to eating although they began sending obvious glances our way.

"The Mizukage admitted that a recent action against Kumo was their fault." His expression turned bemused. "In fact he seemed rather proud of it actually."

"But-" Kushina started then stopped as she was nearly shouting again. "But why would he admit that and what did they do to cause Kumo to go to war with them?"

"Well I don't have the full details but apparently it was an assassination-" His eyes briefly flickered to Mito and Kushina seemed to catch it, "- of a high ranked kunoichi. One that had a number of tails."

"Someone had tails?" Karin shouted out. "Can I get tails? What kind of tails did she have?" The serious air around us broke as Minato smiled indulgently while Karin and then Mito babbled on about having tails. While that was happening I was seemingly calmly eating while internally my mind was running a mile a minute.

'Why would the Mizukage claim responsibility for killing Yugito? Even if he did order the assassination, which he did not, why admit it? Furthermore he has to worry about the ongoing civil war and an outside war now that he's done that.' I slurped down some more noodles. 'The only reason why I could think he would do that is because he's insane. Wait? Doesn't he have the three tailed beast sealed inside him? Could that be the cause of his insanity?'

Leaving my thoughts for later I focused back on the conversation or more of the girls babbling about wanting animal tails. Which actually could be pretty cute if I thought about it. I glanced over at them and imagined Mito with fox ears and a fox tail while Karin would have cat ears and a cat tail. 'Yes,' I thought as the image came to mind. All wars would be ended if everyone could see how adorably cute they would be.

"What does this mean for Konoha?" Kushina's question jarred me out of my thoughts and I turned my attention back towards them.

Minato rubbed his chin as he considered the question. "I don't know. Kiri is fractured right now but even so they won't fall easily. Heck, this could be the thing that drives the rebels and the loyalists back together." He carelessly shrugged. "Right now we've adopted a wait and see approach but if Kiri comes close to falling apart we may swoop in and pick up the pieces."

'Like vultures,' a part of me thought yet I didn't allow anything to show on my face. For all our efforts to avoid a war it seemed like we were still willing to enter one if we had a massive advantage. Although we may be forced to if Kiri does look likely to fall to Kumo as then we would have a massive superpower to our East if they conquered them. Still it was probably better to regain our losses now and strike when our foes are weakened then be forced to fight now.

The next few months saw the releasing of tension throughout the ninja ranks as Kumo's war with Kiri picked up and they withdrew a large portion of their forces from the border. They did enact some economic sanctions for our refusal to give Hiashi's head to them but it would seem that their blatant actions using the thin cover of diplomats on a peace mission hurt their international standing far more than it hurt ours. The most recent reports coming out of Kiri have shown that the rebel and loyalist forces are still skirmishing but more and more often they have been seen fighting together against Kumo aggressors.

Even with a war going on right outside our borders Konoha and the Land of Fire was experiencing a period of peace. Sure we had upped our Eastern border patrols and it seemed like every day we would catch fleeing Kiri or Kumo deserters but on the whole it was peaceful. My team and I would alternate between spending time on the Eastern border or working for the Daimyo and his court. The phrase shit floats to the tops comes to mind whenever I think about the court.

Petty minded people that would backstab each other just to get one step closer to the Daimyo were as numerous as flies. Most of them had never even worked a day in their lives as they were born into familial wealth and power. For all that his court seemed to be filled with scum the Daimyo himself seemed to be a laid back individual who left the real running of the country to the armies of bureaucrats while keeping a watchful eye on the politicking within his court.

It had seemed odd to me at first that we would actually be subservient to someone with no personal power at all. I mean when you have people who can tear down mountains it doesn't make much sense to obey someone who is at a civilian level of power. Minato had explained it to me as a holdover from the time before chakra existed. When the Sage of the Six Paths had granted chakra to the world there had already been a feudal system similar to Japan in the middle ages.

When people began to discover what chakra could do many, many warlords popped up everywhere as what amounted to uneducated peasants grew drunk on their own power. Fearing that their power would slip away the ruling class of the time had gathered numerous armies and crushed all the upstart warlords underfoot as chakra was relatively new and largely untested in its use. From there the ruling class had shown remarkable intelligence and given the marauding warlords the chance to pledge allegiance to them or die. That was how the first clans started and the Daimyos of today still hold our allegiance while ruling the non-chakra using population while the Hokages rule the ninja.

It worked in a fashion I suppose although the fact that Konoha, at least, worked as a militaristic meritocracy under a dictator helped corral the prickly ninjas together. Minato once described it as herding cats and I agreed with him. For most of my ninja career I had been working with the best of the best. People with the utmost decorum or natural prodigies like Hina and Shisui. Working border patrol showed me the other side of the ninja world with the career genin and chunin. It was hard to connect to them almost as while they were ninja they didn't have a drive to grow stronger. I almost hated them in a way as they wasted their potential, contently being stagnant, when they could be so much more. It just seemed like such a waste.

Regardless, I was promoted to the rank of Special Jonin a few months after my quest was complete. No doubt it was set up that way so that enemy spies wouldn't gain any connection to the two events even if the Mizukage had admitted to ordering the hit on Yugito. I also reasoned that the reason the reward was so bland would be because I had fulfilled the minimum requirements of the quest. If I had captured Yugito and brought her back so that the Two Tailed Beast could be extracted then I think I would have gotten a better reward.

Still there was no use crying over it as months turned into years and the war between Kiri and Kumo entered a stalemate for the moment as the rebel and loyalist faction had set aside their differences to repel Kumo. The war hadn't affected Konoha much at all as evidenced by the fact Kushina, Karin, Mito and I were carelessly walking back from the Academy after their first full week.

It was… disquieting to see them talk so animatedly about traps and basic survival skills. Yes I knew this would happen when they turned 6 but seeing and knowing were two different things entirely.

"Piggy back attack." Mito shouted jarring me out of my thoughts and I felt her collide onto my back as her arms and legs wrapped around me. With a slight grin I used my chakra to stick her to me and kept walking like nothing happened at all. I could almost feel the pout coming from her. "Eh, that's no fun." She tried to get off me but my chakra held her firmly glued to myself. "What's happening? Why can't I move?"

"That would be because you've fallen into my trap. Now you'll never escape me and my tickles." As I finished saying that I reached behind me and started tickling her sides causing her to erupt into giggles and frantically squirm to free herself. Of course it was all for not. If her chakra control had been better she could have detached my chakra from her but alas she was trapped against me for now.

"Karin," Mito managed to gasp out between her laughs. "Help me." I sent an amused grin towards Karin before wiggling my fingers at her. She looked at the giggling mess that Mito had become and then back at me before choosing discretion before valor and put mom between us as a buffer. What a smart little sister indeed.

Any amusement I had at the moment ended as my body began to move on its own. I recognized the inhuman reflexes skill at work and my finely honed senses sharpened to a razors edge which is why I was probably able to see what happened next.

Right in front of where I was walking before I began to move a black dot appeared. The dot quickly spiraled outwards as it grew in size to form a man with an orange spiraled mask with his right eye revealed to show an oddly shaped sharingan staring me right in the eye as he reached for Mito and I.

'It's the man Minato wants to flay alive,' my mind randomly spat out at me as the world seemed to slow around me. 'It would seem like he's trying to reacquire the Kyubi to attack once more in a snatch and grab.' Even as I thought that I detached Mito and sent her flying off me. She didn't get far, maybe a half centimeter away, but she wasn't touching me at all as the man's hand touched my forehead and I felt a pulling sensation as he began to seemingly collapse inwards.

The last thing I saw before I was pulled away was the truly furious expression upon Kushina's face and a plethora of glowing chakra chains heading right towards where the man stood even though I saw they would arrive too late to do anything. Then there was nothing but a feeling of weightlessness as I was pulled through a void of darkness before whatever technique the man used ended and I continued my movement away from him. Yet something was different. I felt sluggish and weak as though my strength had been sapped from me and the surroundings were odd.

All around me pillars of stone rose from the ground to reach towards the black and grey sky while the forest of pillars continued as far as the eye could see. I could only conclude that this was another dimension and the pop up confirmed it.

 **Ding!**

 **Discovered Closed Private Dimension: All physical stats are reduced by 50%**

'Shit. This is bad. I could barely even do anything at my fastest and now my mobility is cut in half. Not good.' Still, I immediately tried to use ID escape since it didn't cost me anything but nothing happened except another pop up telling me my ID was overridden by being here. The masked man still hadn't moved from his spot as I landed on one of the pillars and in fact his body language didn't indicate any hostility towards me at all.

"What a pity." The man spoke without preamble. "I had hoped to get both the Kyubi container and you at once." He shrugged carelessly. "I suppose denying Konoha you will have to suffice for now." I didn't know what to do. At my best I could probably annoy him until he decided to squash me like a bug but I wasn't nearly at my best anymore. Stall for time then. I knew I had a marker for Minato's Flying Thunder God technique so if I could get him to leave me here perhaps Minato could rescue me even if the thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Why would you want me? For that matter why would you think Mito is the container of the Kyubi? It was destroyed by the late Sandaime."

The man chuckled mirthlessly. "Do not take me for a fool Shiro. The Tailed Beasts cannot be destroyed, only contained, and besides why wouldn't I want the killer of the Nibi's container?" A chilling sensation ran down my spine at his words. To be able to gain access to SS rank secrets would mean a massive security breach or betrayal at the highest level.

"I don't know where you're getting your information but the Mizukage was the one who put out the hit on Yugito. I don't even know why you would think I killed her?"

"Playing innocent then?" His visible eye narrowed at me. "No matter, my eye sees everything and I can discern the truth from your lies." I briefly considered going invisible and trying to get a sneak attack on him but his eye would see the chakra disturbance as I moved. 'Damn stupidly overpowered doujutsu.'

"Now then, where is the Nibi?"

"How should I know?" I sniped back at him as soon as he asked. Just deny, deny, deny until help arrives or he goes away.

"I couldn't find one trace of its power throughout all the lands so I went to the source of its disappearance." He continued on as though I hadn't spoken. "I know of your ability to use space time ninjutsu so it must be locked away wherever you have placed it."

Even though he was an enemy his information had been uncomfortably accurate up to this point and if he said the Nibi wasn't reforming in the outside world then it must be in my ID which was an unpleasant thought. Still just keep stalling. "Really? You really think I can use space time ninjutsu? If I could why haven't I escaped from this place?" The answer seemed to actually stump him for a moment or two before he began to study me intently. 'Any second now Minato.'

"It's not that you aren't able to it's that you can't use it here for some reason." He said slowly and then nodded. "Yes that's it. My pocket dimension is interfering with your technique leaving you trapped here like so many others before you." The man made humming sounds as he seemed to consider something. "You're a threat that needs to be dealt as you could impede my plans yet you hold the key to the Nibi and killing you would put it beyond my grasp forever."

I didn't know why he was being so candid with his plans but it probably wasn't good for me at all that he was telling me this. "Hmm, for now it is enough that I know the location of the Nibi. Maybe a few years of isolation will be enough to persuade you to give the Nibi to me. If not there is always torture." With that he disappeared in a swirl and I was left alone in the absolute silence of this dimension.

I paused as I didn't consider him gone yet so I sent out a pulse of chakra to see if I could sense if he was hiding nearby. The short answer was no he was probably not. The slightly longer answer was that I probably wouldn't be able to tell with any real degree of accuracy as the entire place was saturated with his chakra signature. He could be standing right behind me and it would be extremely difficult to tell.

Still this was nothing more than a stay of execution if what he said was true and I had no doubt it was. Pulling out the tri pronged kunai I threw it onto the ground and waited. Ten minutes passed and Minato didn't show up so I picked it up and threw it into the ground again. Still nothing happened which meant either Minato was unable to teleport to another dimension using his technique or he was dead. The latter was unlikely which meant the first was probably true. I slipped the kunai back into my inventory as I tried to figure out how to escape.

Okay let's think. ID is out because it's being overpowered by the local dimension. Minato can't reach me either because his technique can't go between dimensions or he's dead. I've been hampered physically but not mentally and finally the man who has done this could be standing right next to me without me knowing it. I let out a stream of curses strong enough to make a sailor blush which was oddly therapeutic.

When I was finished I sighed and did something I hadn't done since creating Angel's Breath, ask whether a technique could be created to escape this trap. The ding told me it was possible and with some trepidation I looked at the pop up.

 **Ding! The skill you want to learn requires the following:**

 **INT 200**

 **WIS 150**

 **5 points**

I bit my lip at the stats that were required and at the addition 5 points required. That was 5 points that would be forever lost if I had a level cap and it would take almost all my accrued points to make requirements. 'Can I see the skill first?' I questioned and another window popped up.

 **Dimensional Bridge (Active Unknown Rank(50,000(37,500))) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **This skill allows the user to travel between dimensions and universes. At its current low level the user will be thrown randomly throughout the multiverse with only the assurance that where they land won't kill them instantly and is livable.**

 **Cooldown of 1 year and 1 day.**

'Really? That's the only thing that will get me out of here? A random jump across all of creation and the cooldown time is atrocious. What about a reverse summons to the summoning realm?' I knew about summons like Ma and Pa, the sage toads, so why couldn't I try to reverse summon into a summoning realm? While it would be dangerous it would certainly be better than a known threat from my jailer and the almost sure chance of never finding my way back if I used the Dimensional Bridge. With that in mind I made the required hand signs annnnd nothing happened except another dinging noise.

 **Ding!**

 **This dimension is cut off from the summoning realms making a reverse summoning impossible.**

I dismissed the pop up aggressively and tried to think of any other way I could get out of this mess without resorting to the Dimensional Bridge. I sat there for days and days just thinking but nothing I tried worked at all and with a weary heart I placed the required points into intelligence and wisdom. The pain was almost as unbearable as the first time I did this and I could feel myself thinking faster.

 **Ding! Learned or upgraded the following:**

 **Chakra Pool 1 – 2: Grants a 40% increase in chakra capacity.**

 **Chakra Regeneration – 1: Grants a 30% increase to chakra regeneration.**

 **Processing Speed(Active) LVL MAX: Enables the user to increase their thought process so much so that everything seems to move at 1/10 their original speed.**

My splitting headache went away as the changes to my mind settled and wasn't that a disturbing thought. I blinked and shook my head. What was I doing? 'Oh yeah, the Dimensional Bridge ability.' A thought later and I held the power to travel throughout all creation at my fingertips yet I still hesitated to take the final step.

For all of its cruelty and violence this world had become my home with people I cared for. Without them to temper me I could become just what Danzo would admire in a shinobi, emotionless and willing to do whatever is necessary to complete the mission, at all times which is something I didn't want. Right then and there I vowed to return or find someone to reign me in. Besides I'm sure if I became skilled enough I could direct where and when I wanted to arrive in a universe. All I had to do was make sure I arrived after I had left this universe behind and whether that would be a second or a year it wouldn't matter.

With my resolve strengthened I activated Dimensional Bridge and vanished from the world of shinobi, at least for now. Chaotic space between everywhere and nowhere crashed against the bubble that protected me in an almost hypnotic display of creation and destruction. Forever, and in an instant, my bubble fell through a hole in the pattern of all reality before sending me crashing into the real world again.

The hole in reality dumped me about a meter above what seemed to be a lake and as I fell I landed on top of the water with nary a ripple disturbing it. Every defensive skill I had was activated and my senses were going into overdrive cataloguing everything that could be a threat around me. To my right I could see a large looming forest that reminded me of the Forest of Death in training ground 44 back home. To my left I could see a large hill with a majestic castle perched on top with the moon illuminating it from behind. All this was taken in within a second before I swore the dinging of a pop up took off 30 years of my life.

 **Ding!**

 **Quest Complete:** **Traveler from Distant Lands**

 **A wanderer, a connoisseur of the new, you dream of seeing distant lands and new experiences. Grow strong enough to bridge the gap between dimensions and universes. See the glory of the whole multiverse yourself.**

 **Rewards: All-Speak, Auto Translate, Ageless**

 **All-Speak (Passive): Never fear not speaking the native language. With All-Speak your words will automatically translate into the listener's most well-known language.**

 **Auto Translate (Passive): All languages that are spoken within your hearing distance will be translated into your most well-known language.**

 **Ageless (Passive): The multiverse is a large place. In order to explore it you need to have time on your hands and now you do. When you have reached the age of 24 the trapping of time will cease to have meaning and old age will never trouble you.**

'I'll never age past 24 now?' I thought in shock but quickly pushed it to the side as the presence I felt when I arrived made a small noise near the lake shore. My eyes focused in on the area where the invisible person must be and I decided to go for a calm approach. I.E. I wouldn't just attack them but try talking first. "Whomever is hiding near the lake shore reveal yourself or I shall take action." I let the silence stretch out for a couple of seconds before I spoke again in a slightly more hostile manner. "This is your final warning. Show yourself and I will not attack unless you strike first. Otherwise I will consider you an enemy and respond accordingly."

I shifted slightly but before I launched myself at whomever was there a rippling motion distorted the air and a boy of about 14 was revealed holding a cloak that now that it was off of him felt like Death itself had imprinted on it. I noted that the boy had black messy hair that seemed as though he had just gotten out of bed and the most brilliant emerald eyes I have ever seen. I also noticed that he was sitting on some type of chest or trunk of some kind and as the cloak fell away he stood up.

"Err, sorry about that. It's just that I've never seen someone stand on water before. My name's Harry, Harry Potter."

 **Age: 10 years - 4 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 31 - 3% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,750/1,750**

 **Chakra: 97,287/97,287**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 180(234)**

 **VIT: 175**

 **END: 167**

 **DEX: 189(208)**

 **INT: 200(214)**

 **WIS: 150(160)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 18**

 **Money: 921,402**

 **Skills upgraded:**

 **Ying Manipulation 65 – 84**

 **Yang Manipulation 65 – 83**

 **Fire Manipulation 48 – 74**

 **Wind Manipulation 84 – 100 : Wind Resistance: LVL 8**

 **Crystal Release 56 – 84**

 **Earth Manipulation 45 – 67**

 **Angel's Breath 5 – 7**

 **Mystical Palms Expert – Adept: 50h/min, minor diseases**

 **Chakra Strings Emissions (Passive) LVL 10 - MAX**

 **Decreases the Chakra emission by 50%**

 ***Chakra Chains(Active 100/min) LVL 4 – 39**

 **Combines the chakra strings into sturdy chakra chains.**

 **Poison Resistance 71 – 79**

 **Meditation 76 – 79**

 **ID Create 4 – 7**

 **Sneak 97 – 99**

 **Sense Chakra 78 – 84**

 **Jinx 1 - 9**


	32. Meeting Harry

**Author's Note: Azaira is a genius that has given me a system to limit the Gamer's potential to create random skills on the fly. Each system technique, i.e Angel's Breath and Dimensional Bridge, require a certain stat requirement to acquire. In addition each subsequent skill that he asks the system for will cost 5 more points from his saved points.**

 **So**

 **0 for Angel's Breath**

 **5 for Dimensional Bridge**

 **10 for X and so on and so forth with a cap at 20**

 **This does not affect skills that he creates himself like the wind rasengan. If he puts the time and the effort into creating it then he will not have to pay any additional skill points for it although he will still have to meet any stat requirements.**

~Interlude Harry Potter~

I stalked out of the antechamber in a foul mood. Every year. EVERY SINGLE YEAR it was always something on Halloween. The day must be cursed or the maybe the universe just loves to pile more shit on me during this day. Who knows, it could either or both. My teeth ground together as I impatiently waited for one of the moving staircases to connect to the proper landing so I could get to the Gryffindor common room. As soon as I heard the Triwizard Tournament would be returning this year I just knew my name would come out of the blasted cup.

I had taken my concerns to the twinkly eyed bastard and he had just assured me that it would be perfectly safe, after all this is the safest place on Earth. I held back a snort at the ludicrous notion that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in any way safe. If it wasn't Dark Lord possessed teachers, 60 foot long snakes that kill at a glance or soul sucking abominations it was a bloody magic cup that bound you against your will to compete in a death tournament for the amusement of others.

The stupid staircase finally moved and I stomped up it quickly before it could change again. Then there was the love hate relationship I had with the rest of the school. One minute I'm the Golden Saviour who can do no wrong and then the next minute everyone is whispering that I'm the next Dark Lord. It's infuriating and now the pendulum has swung towards the future Dark Lord again. Not one of the people in charge of the tournament had believed me when I said I hadn't put my bloody name in the stupid cup nor had anyone else in the antechamber believed me either.

Oh sure, twinkly toes had made some platitude about me not putting my name into the cup but his tone of voice sure made it sound like I was guilty as charged. The portrait of the Fat Lady was in sight and I spat out the password to her.

"Sorry, no can do." For a brief moment all I saw was red. As my vision cleared I found my wand placed firmly in my hand and vaguely pointed towards her in a threatening manner. Not wanting to be found shouting at a painting I took a deep breath and counted to ten before I spoke.

"What do you mean no can do?" Oops. Judging by her expression that came out with a bit more hiss than I meant to have it. She kept looking between me and my wand as she scooted towards the edge of the painting.

"The Gryffindor house is currently debating whether to censor or expel you for conduct unbecoming of the house. You can't enter until they're finished."

I swear I actually felt something within me snap at her words and my rage became a burning inferno that just as quickly burned itself out leaving nothing but a simmering indifference. "Listen," I said in a tone reserved for someone who plays at politics or a psychopath about to stab you with a knife 37 times in a row. "I have had a very, very long day. I'm a Gryffindor and you are blocking the way to my room. Now you either have the option of opening up or I will cheerfully burn you to cinders and piss on the ashes to put you out." I gave her my best smile which made her flinch for some reason. "So. What'll it be?"

The Fat Lady made to speak but then stopped as her head tilted to the side. "Hmph. They've made their choice anyways. I hope they kick you out you uncouth cur." The portrait swung open allowing me access to the common room.

"Bugger off you tub of lard." I muttered as I passed her by. As I entered the common room proper I saw what must be the entire house gathered around the central fireplace with Angelina Johnson standing on one of the footrests at the center of the half circle.

She was one of the first to see me and her acidic tone brought the attention of the rest of the room upon me. "Potter! How kind of you to show your face here after we've come to a decision regarding your position in Gryffindor house." I could see the spark of jealousy in the eyes of many of my housemates and I couldn't help but wonder why they would ever be jealous of me. If I could trade my fame and fortune away for a loving family I would do it all in a heartbeat yet all everyone saw was the fame.

"Mate!" Ron's voice drew my attention away from Angelina's glare to my red haired friend. He looked disgruntled and the fact that his arms were crossed over his chest didn't help the matter. "All this stuff with censoring and expelling can go away if you just admit you put your name in the goblet and tell us how you did it."

I bit back a sharp retort. 'Why doesn't he believe that I didn't do it? I faced a bloody basilisk to rescue his sister and he won't believe that I don't want to have another near death experience.'

"That would be impossible Ronald because I bloody well didn't put my name in the cup. If you can't see that I'm telling the truth then I don't know what to say." His face started to match the color of his hair at my words and I knew a Weasley famous temper tantrum was coming.

"Fine!" He shouted. "I hope you like the result of our house meeting then. Twat!"

I think I tasted blood as I bit down on my lower lip and searched the room for Hermione, while ignoring the rest of Ron's rant. I found her off to the side and as our eyes met she looked away with a small frown and a disappointed expression on her face. 'You too Hermione.' I thought as the friendship I thought we had burned and shattered to pieces before me.

"Well then." With an effort of will I focused back on Angelina who was holding a large parchment. "We, the members of Gryffindor house, find Harry Potter's actions to be below the standard at which members of our house should conduct themselves. By a majority vote we have decided to expel said Harry Potter from the house of the Brave." She unfurled the parchment and I could see the long list of names on it. "Do you have anything to say for yourself before I enact this?"

"Yes, I do." I glared at the assembled crowd. Several of them couldn't even match my glare and had to look away. So much for the house of the Brave. "When it comes out that I was an unwilling participant in this farce of a tournament I won't come back to this cesspool no matter how much you beg and plead." If they wanted to burn bridges then so would I.

She sniffed and waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "That won't happen. By a majority vote we hereby expel Harry Potter from Gryffindor. He is no longer welcome here and has no right to our house colors." The red and gold trim on my uniform disappeared and was replaced by the standard black it came in. "You have five minutes to pack your things and get out."

I gave everyone one last glare and then turned on my heels to march up the stairs to my dorm where I began throwing things into my trunk haphazardly. It didn't take as long as I thought it would and with one last glance around to see that I didn't miss anything I hit my trunk with a feather weight charm. I could hear the muttering as I descended back towards the common area with my trunk in hand and as soon as I was in view the muttering stopped. Not wanting to let them see any weakness I held my head high as I walked past them and if one or two of them made a snarky comment, well bugger them.

I made it past the Fat Lady's farewell consisting of a shouted, "And don't come back," and all the way to an empty classroom where I locked the door and threw up as many silencing charms I knew before I let it all out. I screamed at the unfairness of it all, at how my supposed friends had abandoned me and at the deadly tournament I found myself embroiled in. I screamed until all that was left was fat choking sobs and I collapsed onto my trunk as I buried my face in my hands. I sat there for who knows how long as I emotionally spent myself away from prying eyes.

"Anyone?" I begged to the world. "Anyone at all? Please, I need help." I expected my desperate plea to go unanswered especially in a soundproofed room of my own making. That was probably the reason why I nearly had a heart attack and gained 2 feet of air when, with a pop, Dobby appeared right in front of me.

"Great Master Harry Potter is asking for help?"

"Dobby!?" I clutched at my chest where I could feel my heart beating wildly. I always knew he would be the death of me one day. "What are you doing here?"

"Dobby has heard Master Harry Potter asking for help. Did Dobby mishear?" He had grabbed his floppy ears as he finished speaking and I knew I had to reassure him before he started to hurt himself.

"No, no." I said quickly. "I was asking for help. Thank you for coming so quickly Dobby." As soon as I said that I paused. Dobby had… odd ideas on what was helpful and I remembered all the trouble he had caused me trying to help. In fact his help had landed me in the hospital wing having to regrow all the bones in my arm although that was only partially his fault. I gulped and looked on as Dobby gushed about how wonderful I was to thank him. Clamping down on any misgivings I had about this I interjected when he took a breath, beggars can't be choosers after all.

"That's great Dobby but I need…" I trailed off. What did I really need? My thoughts wandered for a bit before it came to me. I need someone who could help me survive long enough to graduate this deathtrap of a school. I need a real teacher. "I need to find someone who can train me to survive, but with my luck I'll never find them." I gave a rueful chuckle while Dobby looked pensive and then excited as though he found a solution which frightened me a bit.

"Dobby knows what to do." He said hyperactively and popped away before I could stop him. I could only hope that whatever he's up to doesn't kill me or anyone else. Just as I was getting anxious Dobby returned with a small vial the size of my pinky finger that seemed to have liquid gold within it. "Dobby has found it sir."

"Err, that's great Dobby, but what is it?" I gently took the vial from him and held it closer so I could study it.

"Tis a potion of luck sir." I turned my gaze back to him and raised an eyebrow. My luck is horrible. Why would I want anything that could worsen it?

"Luck? How does that help me and where did you get this anyways?" Hopefully he didn't steal it from someone.

"Yes sir. Tis said that drinking it makes the drinker succeed in all their endeavors." He looked a little bashful. "Dobby found it in the greasy haired one's potion cabinet."

It took a moment to settle in before a smile spread on my face and then I was helpless to stop the chuckles that bubbled up. The greasy haired one indeed. "That's wonderful Dobby." I said between my chuckles. "So all I have to do is drink this and it'll solve all my problems." I gave the potion a little wave. "How long would the luck last?"

"Yes sir. Think about what you want to succeed in before you drink it and Dobby thinks it will last for an hour."

'That's good enough for me.' I thought as I looked back at the golden liquid. 'It's not like I really have very many other options.' "Right then, even if this doesn't work you're still the best Dobby." He seemed to go into miniature spasms of happiness at that or something more. I don't know and I really didn't want to look close enough to find out. "Bottoms up." I slipped off the cork and drained the vial all the while thinking of finding someone to help me survive the coming year.

I knew the moment that the potion was working when a warm fuzzy feeling spread throughout my body making me feel almost giddy. I quickly bent down and retrieved my invisibility cloak from my trunk as my confidence soared to new untold heights. I wrapped the cloak around me and picked up my trunk before I turned to leave the room. At the door I paused for a second and turned back to face Dobby.

"Dobby I just want to thank you once more for your help. You are a true friend." I didn't hear his response as I slipped out of the room and almost skipped through the castle. Feeling a nudge from the potion I turned down a side hall to see Draco skulking about and my grin threatened to break my face. Somehow knowing it would be a good thing I floated the used vial into his cloak pocket and then skipped away towards where the potion was directing me next.

Not a minute later I found Mrs. Norris on the prowl and sent a stinging hex at its butt sending the cat yowling towards Draco. 'Served them both right.' I thought as I continued to skip along invisible to all, passing Filch as he ran after his demon cat. For some reason I was directed to the antechamber where the champions were gathered earlier today but as soon as I saw the large book laying on the table I knew I needed it. Why I didn't know, but I knew it was important so I stuffed the thick book called _The Rules and Regulations of the Triwizard Tournament_ into my trunk.

As soon as that was done the potion was urgently tugging me out of the castle and down to the lake shore near the Forbidden forest. I actually ran for a portion of the journey as though I would miss whatever was going to happen if I didn't hurry. The odd thing was that as I sat down on my trunk at the water's edge nothing happened. The adage hurry up and wait came to mind as I sat there for the next five minutes as the potion induced confidence told me this would work.

At the end of five minutes the warm feeling from the potion began to increase until it was almost uncomfortable. Just before it became painful the sensation went away as a perfectly flat black circle formed above the water and seeming spat out a boy who landed on top of the water with nary a ripple. I couldn't contain my shock and my leg jerked moving the small stones underneath me.

In an instant the young boy focused all his attention right towards me and even with my invisibility cloak I knew he knew exactly where I was. His next words confirmed it. "Whomever is hiding near the lake shore reveal yourself or I shall take action." His voice had a strange accent to it that I couldn't place and his attire wouldn't look out of place on a battlefield with what looked like a sword strapped to his back.

"This is your final warning. Show yourself and I will not attack unless you strike first. Otherwise I will consider you an enemy and respond accordingly." I blinked at the sound of his voice again and it took a second or two for his meaning to come through. At the potions urging I removed the cloak and rose to greet him. Even if he looked like a child I believed he was the one who could help me and the potion urged me to never tell him about taking it or my chance would be lost forever.

"Err, sorry about that. It's just that I've never seen someone stand on water before. My name's Harry, Harry Potter."

~Interlude End~

I studied the boy in front of me. Everything about him screamed confidence yet I saw clear evidence of recent crying. I did not know why he was both brimming with confidence whilst also barely holding it together and that made me cautious. He felt normal enough, more energy than a civilian and about a low genin, but he had a second source of chakra in his head and that cloak. I felt a shiver run up my spine. Whatever that cloak was it was not natural and for him to use it so casually was either the height of foolishness or sheer ignorance. I did not know which it was and I didn't want to find out.

"If you don't mind me asking what's your name?" His accent was British which was odd but then I realized that he was actually speaking English. Was I back on Earth or a possible variation of it?

"I don't mind." I said slowly as I pondered whether or not to actually give him my name. Half-forgotten memories of my former life told me of stories where Names have power, but Shiro wasn't my true name was it? "My name is Shiro." I decided to just go with it. Being polite didn't hurt and I could more easily gain information on where I was by just playing nice for now.

"I don't suppose you could tell me where I am? I seem to have gotten a little lost on the road of life." I'm sure Kakashi would start crying manly tears of joy if he ever found out I used his favorite line.

"You're really not from around here are you?" I was going to shake my head but he just continued on without letting me answer. "We'll I suspected as much when you fell out of that black portal thingy and the fact that you're still standing on water like it's nothing."

I grimaced internally at the thought of him seeing how I arrived but he was correct about me still standing on water. A casual jump saw me land on solid ground and I saw Harry's face light up like Christmas came early. "Bloody hell that was amazing. You must have jumped 15 feet from a standstill."

"It was nothing." I said modestly. Maybe the light show of strength would ward off any attempts of attack if he had any plans for it. "You still haven't told me where this is though."

"Err, right. Can you see the castle on the hilltop?"

"Yes."

"Is it in ruins?" I blinked heavily at his question. Of course it wasn't in ruins.

"No, it seems fully functional to me."

"Oh great, I just had to make sure you were a wizard or not. Have to keep the secret of magic from muggles you know." He waved his hand dismissively. "I thought you had magic because of what you just did but the castle is charmed to prevent muggles from seeing anything but ruins or at least that's what my ex-friend told me." He slouched at the last part and I could see a great deal of hurt in his eyes before he seemed to rally himself. "Anyways that right there is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

'A school for witchcraft and wizardry?' I thought to myself as I took a glance up at the large imposing castle. The idea seemed odd to me but the thought of such a large source of potential skills almost made me salivate. If they had everything written down it would be even better. "A school you say? I assume you're a student there."

He glumly nodded which seemed odd to me but he expounded on it before I could ask. "Unfortunately yes, but this will probably be my last year here because I'll probably be dead by the end of it. You see there is a tournament going on this year and I'm going to be forced to participate even though it's for people 17 years or older." He let out a bitter laugh and my eyes narrowed slightly. Unless he was a master of concealing his body language he was telling the truth.

"How can they force you to do that?" I asked curiously as I started drawing plans with this new information.

"Wait, you believe me?" He blurted out and then looked embarrassed when I raised an eyebrow at him. "Err, sorry it's just my house kicked me out because they thought I cheated my way into the tournament. It's why I was out here with all my stuff. Oh, but I didn't answer your question. The champions were picked by the Goblet of Fire and apparently it binds your magic and life to compete in the tournament otherwise you die if you refuse. There were only supposed to be three champions but my name came out as a fourth champion."

This tournament sounds like a Roman gladiatorial match and my plans began to finalize with that information. "For what it's worth I don't believe that you are a willing participant in this tournament. That being said do you want to make a deal?"

"A deal?"

"Yes. I'm currently lacking in funds at the moment and not to brag or anything, but I am quite strong. Perhaps we can come to an accommodation where I mentor you and you pay me an appropriate sum. In fact, is there anything in the rules of the tournament that allows for that?" This seemed perfect. While I had no compunction against simply stealing every single magical textbook they had it would be easier and less likely to have any retribution if I simply paid for them.

"I don't know," Harry said with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Let me check." He bent down and most of his upper body went into his trunk as he searched for something. 'They have dimensional magic. This could speed up my return tremendously. Also mental note to self, try reverse summoning myself and throwing Minato's kunai later.'

"Aha," I heard Harry exclaim as he found what he was looking for. His upper body reappear from the depths of his trunk and he held a rather large book in his hands called _The Rules and Regulations of the Triwizard Tournament._ Although it felt like forever since I had last seen written English it was definitely in English which was a blessing otherwise it would take time to actually be able to read their writing. "Here it is. I, um, found this on my way down here."

'He stole it,' I instantly concluded but I didn't begrudge him that at all. If I was involuntarily forced to compete in a magical tournament I would definitely want to know all the rules. "Let's see here." He opened the book and then let out a laugh. "Well isn't that lucky. It would seem that I opened it to just the right page. Okay, it says here that each champion is entitled to a magical mentor for the duration of the tournament as long as that mentor has no affiliation with the organizers of said tournament or teaching staff at each competing school of magic." He snapped the book closed and tossed it to me. I caught it easily enough and raised an eyebrow at him for his action.

He just shrugged unrepentantly. "I figure my mentor should know all the rules first so he can get me out of trouble." The cheeky brat was pawning off all the reading to me. Even if I wanted to read the rules first so I knew what I was getting into it was the principle of the matter. I vowed to increase my price as I stored the book in my inventory.

"There's still the matter of price for my instruction."

He paused and then nodded decisively. "I know something that is worth quite a bit of money but you'll have to do some work."

"I'm not afraid of a little work but I want to see it first."

"Great, follow me then." Harry cheerfully picked up his trunk and almost skipped towards the castle as I followed along. We didn't talk until we got close to the entrance and he turned to face me. "So we're going to need to sneak for the next part. Can you go invisible or do you want to use my cloak with me?" The thought of covering myself in something so strongly drenched in Death revolted me and I shook my head.

"Don't worry about me," I activated my invisibility skill and got to see Harry's startled face. "Just lead on."

"Err, are you sure you can follow me when I'm invisible?"

"Yes." I said simply and while he looked skeptical he tossed his cloak over himself disappearing from view but not from my other senses. The sound of his breathing, his footsteps and even his scent all told me right where he was even if I couldn't see him. Apparently he took my word that I could follow him and set off into the school as I trailed along behind him silently.

The school itself was fascinating to me. The paintings moved, although they seemed to be sleeping at the moment, the stairs moved, hell it felt like everything was in motion almost like the school itself was alive. The air was also saturated with spiritual energy and it clung to every single surface. I had already suspected that these wizards used more spiritual energy than physical energy just based on what I felt from Harry but the school confirmed it. Witches and wizards were spiritual manipulators and with a bit of luck I could imitate them.

Our walk ended in a bathroom? I looked around a bit more. Yep, a bathroom or more specifically a girl's bathroom. Before I could ask why we were here Harry took off his cloak looking almost sheepish so I deactivated my jutsu as well. "I know this looks weird but welcome to the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets." He waved his hand at the pillar in the center of the room with sinks attached to it.

I gave him an unimpressed look. "Why do we want to go to a sex dungeon?"

Him sputtering and turning beat red was therapeutic enough, but the real reason was because I just couldn't let a setup like this go. I mean really, we're in a girl's bathroom trying to go to the Chamber of Secrets. Is there a snake involved? That would make this even better. "No! It's not a s-sex dungeon. It's where Salazar Slytherin kept his giant snake." My grin widened. So much better.

"It's just- argh- please don't freak out." He bent down to and whispered, " _Open."_ I felt shocked as the pillar unfolded revealing a tunnel that was covered in grime. To my senses it felt like there was nothing but sinks there until now and the magic moving the stone was fascinating to feel. Harry looked back from the tunnel with a look of worry on his face. "You're not going to label me as a Dark wizard now are you?"

Shaking off the minor shock I answered him. "No, why would I do that?"

He looked strangely optimistic at my answer. "Well I just spoke Parseltongue. It's the language of snakes and a lot of people consider those who can speak it evil."

"That is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Being able to speak another language simply makes you bilingual or any type of lingual depending on how many languages you speak." By the end of my answer he was smiling and nodding.

"Thank you! I saved a student's life by stopping a snake from attacking him and then everyone called me Dark just because I could speak to it."

"Then they're idiots and the one you saved is a special kind of idiot if he never thanked you." I gestured towards the still open sink. "So are we going in there?"

"Oh, yeah just give me a tick." He stuffed his cloak into his trunk and pulled out a broom which he mounted. I really wanted to make a comment about stereotypical witches but it was just too easy. "Meet you at the bottom." He kicked his trunk over the edge and then soared into the air before dive bombing into the hole with a small whoop of joy.

'Adrenaline junky,' I thought as he disappeared. Before I jumped down the hole I created a clone to scout out the school and the surrounding area. It saluted and turned invisible as I jumped down the hole. Of course I ran down the side of it instead of sliding down as it really was caked with all sorts of grime. At the bottom of the long tunnel I found Harry waiting with a stick that was glowing at one end. 'Is that a magic wand or is it a foci? Possibly a weak point if they need it to use magic. If I destroy any opponent's wand they could be helpless.'

Regardless of that I took a look around the cavern to see a collapsed portion further ahead along with numerous small skeletons and what appeared to be a shedding for a fairly large snake. I would say it would be about a small to medium sized summon for Orochimaru but I would reserve judgement until I saw the entire thing. "Nice place." I commented dryly.

"Hehe, yeah. It collapsed the first time I was down here and the roof almost fell on my head. We'll have to crawl through the opening up near the top." I studied the small hole up top and shook my head. No way was I going to go spelunking without reinforcing the cave.

"Let me try something." I said as I moved towards the collapsed portion and then activated the simple skill _Moving Ground_ causing a groaning noise as the rubble shifted. I heard Harry say something behind me but I paid it no mind and soon enough there was an archway through the rubble along with some hidden supports so nothing would collapse. I would make it even sturdier later but for now this was enough.

"Bloody hell!" Harry exclaimed from behind me. "Could you teach me how to do that?"

"Perhaps. It'll depend on how quickly you learn." It would also depend on his elemental affinities and a host of other things like if he could even learn jutsu but I didn't need to dash his hopes just yet. "Shall we continue?"

"Right." He walked past me, trunk in hand, until we came upon a large metallic door with snakes overlaid on its surface. The door was already open and as I walked past it I saw the large snake laying in the chamber which bore scars of its death throes along with the lit sconces along each wall. My thoughts that it was about a medium sized summon were correct and besides the destroyed eyes the corpse was intact. "Well here it is. I killed this thing nearly two years ago but you could still make quite a profit selling it."

Oddly enough I couldn't smell any hint of decay even though the beast was killed almost two years before. Perhaps its magic kept it intact or maybe it was the chamber itself. I did feel some interesting things going on here. "If it's so profitable why haven't you sold it?"

"Well, anyone I brought here could label me as Dark and secondly I really just didn't need the money."

'Oh you poor fool. You never say you don't need money when you're trying to hire someone. It's like throwing yourself into a pool filled with hungry crocodiles.' Luckily for him I wouldn't charge him through the roof like I could. I had a feeling that this corpse would sell for a pretty penny and I didn't require much. Worst comes to worst I create a few diamonds using crystal release and sell them. "Hmm, let me read through the rule book to make sure that I can be your mentor and that there are no snares that require something I'm not comfortable with. If everything agrees with me I'll be your mentor for the tournament."

He actually looked joyful for the first time I've seen him before he suddenly slumped and let out a loud yawn. "Brilliant." He yawned again. "Sorry, but I think all the stress has finally caught up to me. Do you mind at all if I go to sleep?"

"Nah, go ahead. Do you need any blankets or would you prefer a sleeping bag?"

"You have a sleeping bag?" I tossed him one as I sat down to read the rule book. There was some shuffling and I heard him muttering spells, cleaning the area around where he laid down the sleeping bag, before he crawled into it and soon enough his breathing indicated that he was asleep.

 **Age: 10 years - 4 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 31 - 3% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,750/1,750**

 **Chakra: 97,287/97,287**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 180(234)**

 **VIT: 175**

 **END: 167**

 **DEX: 189(208)**

 **INT: 200(214)**

 **WIS: 150(160)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 18**

 **Money: 921,402**


	33. Getting Things Sorted

**Author's Note: This chapter is about double the usual length just so I could delve into the mindset of Shiro and why he's agreed to mentor Harry Potter so quickly. Oh and I won't be including any individual spells like reparo or alohomora to the skill list. It'll just be listed under Charms, Transfiguration, Curses etc. The only spells I might include would be things like Fiendfyre. Thanks for reading and enjoy.**

As soon as I knew he was asleep I created a clone to read the rest of the book while I rendered this carcass down. First things first though. I took out a vial from my inventory and slowly drained the snake of its venom. I got almost 500mL out of it and after carefully stoppering the vial I put it back into my inventory. Now to skin it. The crystal blade I created didn't even scratch its scales and even with an application of wind chakra on the blade it was like sawing through wood with a dull blade. Still 3 hours into it my clone finished reading the book and helped me remove the rest of the skin. After that it was a relatively quick process to harvest the insides. I even packed away the bone because I had no idea what was considered valuable and what was not.

Finally after 6 hours of work the entire thing was gone and I changed out of my bloodied clothes as my clone popped, giving me all its memories. I winched as the slight headache came from such a large influx of memories but it went away soon enough and having all the rules memorized was worth it. I quickly sorted through the memories but none of the rules stuck out to me as a game changer so if Harry still wanted me as a mentor I would train him.

Well, technically I would just after I tried something. First off I withdrew Minato's kunai and tossed it to the ground where it made a sharp clang. I glanced over to Harry but the noise seemed to not be enough to wake him as he simply rolled over. I waited for a good 10 minutes and then slipped the kunai back into my inventory with a repressed sigh. Next off I tried to reverse summon myself to the summoning realm but the only thing that happened was an error message that popped up. It would seem that this universe isn't connected to the summoning realm which is a pity.

I clutched my head as the clone I had on the outside scouting popped as well. Popping two long term clones nearly back to back was not a good idea and I gritted my teeth as I searched the new memories as to why it thought it was a good idea to pop. Let's see routes through the school, a huge library that made my hands twitch and my mouth to water, a small village nearby, finding out that this is in Scotland on the 1st of November, 1994. Then as my clone was searching the forest nearby I found a nest of huge spiders and further into the forest I found a ruined structure. My curiosity was peaked but after setting foot just inside the ruins some sort of barrier sprung up and electrocuted me.

'Okay. It's embarrassing that I didn't escape such a simple trap but bad luck can happen.' I glanced back over at Harry as I rubbed at my head. 'Should I explore or test out that venom? Eh, why not both?' Sending out another clone I sat down and pulled out a small vial of the extracted venom. While I didn't have an optimal set up for testing new liquids my mystical palms technique was quite capable and it would do for now. About half an hour later I carefully replaced the stopper and put the vial back into my inventory.

'That was the nastiest venom I have ever had the pleasure to study.' It had a one-two punch. A physical component that would kill a man in less than two minutes as their organs literally liquefied and something that seemed spiritual in nature but I wasn't good enough with my mystical palms technique to identify what it did. Regardless, I would not be injecting myself with this anytime soon until I had a better handle on the effects. My clone popped giving me memories of exploring miles and miles of pipes with nothing else interesting happening and just as I was finishing reviewing the memories Harry began to stir.

I knew he was fully awake when he suddenly stiffened and then bolted upright as his hands patted the area next to him for his glasses. "Good morning," I said cheerfully and then chuckled as he spun at the sound of my voice, getting tangled in the sleeping bag, and tumbling to the ground. He finally found his glasses and he looked around the chamber in quite a daze until he focused on me.

"Err, it's Shiro right?"

"That is correct." He suddenly slumped and let out a groan.

"So last night wasn't all just a bad dream and my housemates did kick me out, which I'm not even sure how they did so, but you agreed to be my mentor." He perked up and then something seemed to occur to him as he looked around. "Um, where's the basilisk that was here?"

Where the snake had been there was nothing more than the odd splotch of blood that I hadn't managed to drain properly. "Oh that, I finished rendering it down while you slept."

His poleaxed expression was quite amusing as he gapped like a fish out of water. Eventually he got his act together enough to speak. "But that's insane. How did you-" he must have seen something in my expression because he sighed. "Magic, right?"

"Ah, poo you took all the fun out of it." I did an exaggerated frown at him but then went back to my neutral face. "Anyways I read the entire book as well and I didn't see anything that would stop me from being your mentor if you still want me as one."

"You read the entire book and rendered down the basilisk all while I was sleeping." He pronounced woodenly and I just shrugged at him.

"What can I say I'm just that good." His blank expression with a hint of disbelief was perfect. If he stuck around me long enough he would become blasé about these types of things.

"Right." He said slowly. "Why do you want to be my mentor anyways? I know that you're not from around here because if you were you would have known my name at the very least. So why are you staying?"

'Was he really that famous?' I studied him for a moment and I saw that he was telling nothing but the truth. "Do you want the truth or a pretty lie?"

"The truth please." I nodded and gathered my thoughts.

"Before I arrived here someone attempted to kidnap my sister. It was only a happy chance that I managed to avert that from happening but he was still able to grab me before help could arrive. He took me to a place that seemed impossible to escape from but I managed to flee." For some reason he looked almost guilty as though he thought it his fault. "Once I arrived here I saw how your trunk used dimensional expansion to hold more than it should and you were in need of someone to train you. I leapt at the chance to gain the resources necessary to speed up the process of returning home and since you witnessed my arrival you wouldn't question my lack of knowledge regarding this world."

What I didn't say is that I wanted to keep him close so that he didn't spill any details of my arriving here. If it proved necessary I would simply kill him and be done with it. In addition I had found that I could use the magic displayed here. The clone that had scouted the tunnels had also tried using the cleaning magic that Harry had displayed early before he went to sleep. It had required an 8:1 ratio of spiritual to physical energy instead of an even mixture that I was used to but it worked. So by teaching him I would be able to practice new skills along with him and perhaps give him a thorough medical examination to see how his body ticked. It also helped that he seemed to be ostracized by the student body making him a loner and less likely to spill any of my secrets to anyone else while serving as a guide to this new world. Although I wasn't sure how his apparent fame would factor in just yet.

"So you're just using me?" He asked hotly and I just shrugged.

"Basically, but aren't you doing the same when you asked me to be your mentor?"

His indignation died out and silence fell between us for a minute or two as he seemed to be debating with himself. Finally he broke the silence. "How old are you anyways?"

"10, but if I do this," a quick henge and there was an adult version of me standing where I was, "there shouldn't be any problems."

He stared at my transformation owlishly. "Brilliant. How are you doing that?"

"It's a simple technique that coats a thin shell of chakra over the user that projects an image based on their intent."

"Chakra?"

"A mixture of spiritual and physical energies that I manipulate. Think of it as a different word for magic and before you ask I don't believe that you could do this in your current state. While you have adequate reserves of spiritual energy your physical energy is weak and the strain on your body could seriously damage you."

"But if I can't learn even your simple techniques then what can you teach me?"

In response I shot off the cleaning spell towards one of the larger bloodstains and watched as it vanished. "That was the cleaning spell you used last night. Even if you prove incapable of using my techniques I can still learn yours quickly and train you in their uses. Other than that I can teach you how to fight."

"You just used magic without a wand." I quirked an eyebrow at him. If he was just realizing this now I would need to include observational lessons for him. Luckily he seemed to get my silent rebuke and blushed. "Sorry, I was a little distracted with everything last night and it carried over to this morning."

Whatever. "So I'll ask again do you still want me as your mentor?" He hesitated but then nodded. "Great. So let's get our story straight whenever anyone asks how we met." The next thirty minutes were spent hashing out the details and we finally went with him meeting me during the Quidditch World Cup where he was impressed by my knowledge of the arcane. Once his name came out of the Goblet of Fire the first thing he had done was seek me out as a mentor for the tournament. It was a shaky backstory but it would do for now.

At the end of it Harry's stomach let out a loud rumble and he sheepishly glanced down. "Err, sorry I guess I'm a bit peckish. Could I call one of my friends so we could get something to eat?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Dobby." Harry called out and I was a bit confused until a small creature appeared with a pop right next to him. He had large floppy ears and tennis ball like green eyes with a long jutting nose along with a dirty pillowcase that served as clothing. The thing that really caught my interest though was the fact that he teleported. If I could only gain one thing from this world the knowledge of how to teleport would be it.

"Dobby has heard Master-" he seemed to notice me for the first time and with a little "eep," sound his eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted. I blinked in disbelief. Surely I wasn't scary enough to elicit that kind of reaction was I?

"Dobby!" Harry quickly started fussing over him while shooting glances my way. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing at all. He just caught sight of me and fainted." I absently scratched my cheek. "This has never happened to me before actually." As I finished speaking I saw Dobby's eyes begin to flutter.

"Dobby are you alright?" Harry asked worriedly as he came to.

"Dobby is fine sir. Dobby is-" he caught sight of me again and let out another eep before ducking behind Harry. I could see he was trembling in fright as he cowered behind Harry.

"Dobby it's alright. This is my mentor. His name is Shiro and he won't hurt you."

"Hello," I said as friendly as possible while still intensely curious to know why he was so afraid of me. "If you don't mind me asking why are you so scared of me?"

While his shivering had gone down he still hid behind Harry. "House elves can feel magic in a person and get an impression from it. Dobby feels your magic. Tis like the calm before a storm and filled with so much death for one so young." He nearly whispered the last part before hiding fully behind Harry who was looking equal parts curious and disturbed. I could see the question bubbling I up within him so I decided to preemptively cut it off.

"I don't know you well enough to talk about my past. The only thing I'm going to say is that there was a war." A war that I wasn't really involved in but it would be better to be thought of as a child soldier than a paid killer I suppose. Harry's mouth clicked shut and silence fell between us for a while.

"I'm sorry."

"For what? It wasn't your fault that there was a war unless you're a God playing at being human to mess with me." I shook my head. "Bad things happen but you can't let them consume you. Instead strive to overcome those hardships and work towards a solution or bettering yourself instead of wallowing in grief."

"That sounds like some good advice." He said cautiously and I smiled.

"Well you did hire me to mentor you. Giving out advice is part of the package deal." Harry's stomach let out another rumble and he blushed.

"Master Harry is hungry! Dobby will get food." Before he could pop away Harry stopped him.

"Dobby wait. Can you get food for Shiro as well?" Dobby's head poked out from behind Harry as he looked at me before slowly nodding.

"Dobby can. Dobby will be back." With that he popped away leaving the two of us alone.

"So," I said slowly. "Could you explain house elves to me?"

"Oh, um, sure. House elves bond to a family or a person and Dobby was bonded to someone that wasn't treating him well at all. I was able to trick them into releasing him from his bonds and now he's a free elf although he keeps calling me Master Harry Potter even though I keep telling him it's fine to call me Harry. After that debacle last night he's my only friend." His mood seemed to be plummeting but Dobby popped back with two plates full of food breaking Harry from his downward spiral.

'That was fast.' I thought as I looked over the plate full of food that was floated in front of me by a still cautious Dobby. "Thank you." I said as I dropped the henge and grabbed the plate. Just a glance at the contents made me think I was going to have a heart attack eating it. Lots of fatty foods and grease.

"Master Harry, can Dobby clean the area?" I looked up from my plate to see Dobby almost quivering in place as he gazed wide eyed at Harry.

"If you want to but you don't have to." Dobby gave a squeal of joy and disappeared. I tracked him around the chamber by the bursts of magic he gave off while cleaning and teleporting around. "Thanks for breakfast Dobby." He stopped his cleaning long enough to start babbling on about how Harry was the best person every before getting back to cleaning.

'Crazy little guy, but loyal to a fault.' I thought as I took my first bite of the meal after I checked for poisons on the sly first. After all, while they both seemed trustworthy I hadn't seen the food prepared and being cautious saves lives. After 9 years of eating healthier food the return to greasy food was as jarring as I thought it would be. My palate didn't like it at all and I quickly wolfed down the rest of the food so I wouldn't need to taste it.

"So," I said as I set the cleared plate to the side. Seeing Harry go wide eyed at my cleaned off plate tickled my funny bone but it wasn't time for jokes. "I was thinking we could go sell the rendered down carcass after you're done with breakfast then get some books. Would you happen to know any places where we could do such a thing?"

"Um, maybe Gringotts for selling the basilisk parts and then the rest of Diagon Alley for the books, but I don't know if I'm allowed to leave the school." I mentally frowned as he said those two places. For some reason I had the vaguest memories associated with them but they must have been before I died as I couldn't remember it perfectly and nothing in Konoha would be connected to those two places. Was this another place that I knew of but my memories of it were wiped out?

"Well it's a good thing you had me read the rule book because I can confidently tell you that as a champion you have the right to do whatever you feel is necessary to prepare for the tournament as long as it's not illegal. This would definitely include going with me to get the necessary supplies to begin your training."

He looked conflicted for a moment and then shrugged. "Alright. At least it's a Sunday so I don't have class to attend to." I let a smile grow on my face after he said that.

"Well actually you don't need to go to class. When I said whatever is necessary that includes not going to class. It actually stated that champions shall receive an automatic passing grade in all classes for their participation in the Triwizard Tournament. I think it's a way to relieve as much pressure as possible from the champions."

"You mean to tell me I can skiv off both Snape and Binns' classes for the rest of the year and it's all legal?" By the end of his question Harry was grinning widely.

"I assume that they teach classes here and if so then yes. No more classes for you for the rest of the year."

"Wicked." He breathed out as his grin threatened to break his face. I wonder how bad of a teacher both of them are to elicit that kind of reaction although judging by the fact that it looks like he's about to dance for joy they must be horrendous. The conversation stalled for a bit as Harry was off in a happy place while he ate his breakfast and I was practicing the cleaning charm.

It cost me about as much as a D rank jutsu but it also said that I could decrease the cost to a tenth of its value if I used a wand. While the thought of being able to level any newly acquired skills up faster was wonderful I was hesitant to actually get a wand. From what I felt when Harry cast a spell he didn't actual consciously direct his energy as his wand gathered the necessary amount and shaped it for him. The approach just felt lazy to me and I would always take the longer, harder road to power instead of relying on metaphorical crutches which sounded totally hypocritical now that I thought about it. I pondered about it some more but I still didn't want a wand in the end. I would be the one to shape my energies and not some easily broken tool. In fact that would be one of the first things that I weaned Harry off of.

My thoughts broke off as Harry set his plate down and stood up. "So should we get going?" I stood up as well and reapplied the henge but this time I looked like Minato.

"Sure, but do you know any other exits besides the one we came in?"

"Err, no I don't."

"Hmm, no matter then. Get anything you need ready and let's go." Harry grabbed his broom and cloak then we walked to the pipe leading up to the castle. Before Harry could fly away I stopped him. If there were no other exits to this place, which I doubted, there still should be a way up this without having to resort to flying. "Try asking for stairs."

He looked at me oddly and then hissed out, " _stairs."_ Low and behold the stone jutted out of the pipe forming a circular staircase that continued upwards until I lost sight of it.

"Well that's quite a bit more convenient." Harry didn't say anything but I heard him sigh as he set his broom off to the side. As we started walking up the stairs I started questioning him about the monetary system that wizards had.

"Well first off there's knuts, which are bronze coins, then there's sickles, which are silver coins, and finally galleons, which are gold coins. There are 29 knuts in a sickle and 17 sickles in a galleon."

"Any reason why you have prime numbers for each conversion?" He thought about it for a minute before shaking his head.

"Not a clue. I just know that a galleon is worth 50 pounds. That's muggle money for England which is the currency here. Other nations have different currencies as well." I hummed in thought as we neared the top of the stairs and we both used our different means to turn invisible. It was seeming more and more likely that this was a version of Earth or for all I know it was the same Earth I was born on if the wizarding world was hidden like it apparently was. As the sink opened up Harry spoke over the noise. "Follow me."

I followed him through the castle. It felt even more alive during the day then it did at night with paintings laughing and talking, the noise of footsteps in the distance and just the general feel of it. The spiritual energy seemed to thrum around me almost like a heartbeat and I almost had trouble following Harry from the near sensory overload I was experiencing. I managed it though and once we got outside onto the grounds I let out a sigh of relief. Keeping track of all that movement and the constant feeling of watchfulness was a bit fraying on the nerves even if I knew consciously that I was probably safe. I shook my head to clear it and kept following Harry until we reached an impressive looking willow tree that was swaying against the breeze. 'The Whomping Willow,' a voice in the back of my head provided and I frowned. This was just like when I was reborn and knew people's names before they were introduced.

"Wait here for a second. I need to touch the knot at the base of the tree to keep the Whomping Willow from hitting us."

'Fuck. My memories have been messed with again.' My frown deepened as a knot on the tree was pressed and it froze. It was the equivalent of mentally raping me and words could not describe how much I absolutely loathed what had happened. Now I would have to dredge through my memories trying to find whatever fragments remained about this world.

"Come on then. There's a passage over here." I followed the sound of Harry's voice, while trying to recall everything I knew, to a small opening that was hidden within the roots of the tree. After we both entered the tunnel we dropped our respective invisibility and Harry's wand lit up giving us light to see by.

"So where does this take us?" I asked as we started walking along the tunnel.

"It goes to the Shrieking Shack and once we get there we can go to Hogsmeade village then use their floo to get to Diagon Alley."

"Hogsmeade," I tested the name of the village on my tongue. "Sounds the name of a beer, not a village." He turned a bit pink at that but recovered admirably.

"I think you'll find that wizards don't have the best naming sense in the world." That would probably be the huge imbalance of spiritual to physical energy that I've sensed from all of them. It was bound to cause a few mental issues. Of course I didn't mention this theory to my guide. Didn't want to upset the locals just yet and call me crazy, but saying that all of them were probably prone to mental instability didn't seem like the best topic to endear me to him.

We reached the end of the tunnel and found ourselves in an old dilapidated shack that curiously enough had scratch marks all along the walls. I examined the scratches for long enough to conclude that they were animal in nature and not human before dismissing them of consequence. We found that the door was locked but Harry's whispered "alohomora," took care of that quickly enough. I swear I had to wipe drool off my chin after I learned the spell. A simple D rank spell to open any and all locks not warded against it. Can I get a hallelujah up in here?

The rest of the way into the village was spent talking about commonly known things that I should know if I didn't want to stand out too much. Things such as who's the Prime Minister, the Queen, the Minister of Magic and so on. While Harry didn't know more of the in depth stuff like the political scene or things of that nature it was still very informative. Before we got into the village proper though I henged Harry into a nondescript man with brown hair and blue eyes. It was quite a bit harder to hold two henges when one wasn't on me but I managed.

We ended up at a pub called the Three Broomsticks where an older woman showing quite a bit of cleavage allowed us to use the floo for 2 knuts each. I'm sure I could come up with a sex joke but with such low hanging fruit where's the challenge? Harry paid for both of us as I obviously didn't have any cash and I let him go first so I could see how it was done. With a grim look on his face Harry had stepped into the green flames after calling out for Diagon Alley and been whisked away. I waited for a couple of seconds and then proceeded to do the same.

The experience was a bit disorienting as I was spun around fairly quickly and I could catch glimpses of other exits before I was dumped out at the end of my journey. A little spinning wouldn't throw me off balance though and I stepped out of the fireplace without a hitch in my step. It would seem that Harry was not so fortunate as he was laying on the ground muttering something uncomplimentary. Thankfully the henge held otherwise it would be a bit hard to explain the smoke.

I helped Harry to his feet as I glanced around the grungy pub we found ourselves in. The place looked old and worn but at least the barkeep sounded friendly as we passed by to encounter a brick wall. Harry tapped out a sequence on the bricks with his wand and they folded away to reveal an alley bursting with activity. I took in the scene as we walked towards a large white marble building in fascination. Seeing different cultures was one of the things that I absolutely loved to do before I died and it was no different now. The fact that it was a magical culture just made it better.

We eventually made it to the steps of Gringotts and the words above the entrance made me smile. I might have to rob this place one time before I leave just to say that I did it. As we passed the goblin guards standing on each side of the entry way I saw their pupils shrink to pinpricks as they both focused their attention on me in a classic flight or fight response. 'I'll really have to check why everything that I've met that isn't a human seems to freak out when they see me even though I have chakra dampening on.' I thought as we entered through the door.

The inside of Gringotts was… an ostentatious display of wealth and power as I've even seen with gold inlays everywhere along with a vaulted ceiling that huge crystal chandeliers hung from. As I entered the room every goblin froze for a moment and I felt their eyes zero in on me before they seemed to take a collective breath. Then they got back to work, although I still felt watchful eyes upon me. The other humans in the room noticed the odd display but seemed to dismiss it after a moment. Harry on the other hand was clued in enough to know what happened but he had the sense to keep quiet for the time being.

I walked to one of the open counters and the goblin behind it flinched slightly as it became apparent I was heading straight towards him before he regained as much of his composure as possible while gritting his teeth into a snarl. "Good day to you." I said cheerfully. "I have business that might interest Gringotts today."

The goblin's eyes widened as I spoke and then narrowed into almost slits. Whoops, I wonder if he's hearing this in his native language. "What business brings you to Gringotts today?"

"I have rare parts from an extremely magical animal that I want to sell in bulk." We regarded each other. Myself with calm indifference and him with a permanent snarl on his face before he slowly nodded. With a motion one of the guards marched over and stood next to us.

"Take them to Ironfist." The guard nodded and motioned us to follow while walking almost sideways in order to present the smallest target if I attacked. While the fact that all of the goblins seemed to consider me such a threat was almost flattering it was getting rather tedious. We followed the nameless guard to an office where presumably Ironfist was sitting behind a desk. He went through his fight or flight response before commendably composing himself and offering us seating.

"What kind of animal parts have you brought to sell?" Ironfist gravelly voice filled the air as we got situated. Straight to business then with no pleasantries. I can appreciate that.

"I have recently been fortunate enough to acquire a rather large portion of basilisk meat."

"Oh?" My thoughts on goblins being primarily carnivores was correct as Ironfist perked up for an instant before settling for a bored tone. "Would you happen to have a sample of the meat?"

"Of course." I pulled out a thin strip of meat from my inventory and handed it over to him. He took it with care and started doing all manner of tests on it, even going so far as to slice a bit off and eat it raw. Harry squirmed a bit at that but settled as I gave him a look. Even having to quell Harry from acting up I still saw Ironfist shiver with barely concealed delight as he tasted the basilisk meat.

"Hmph, the meat is barely worth it but I suppose Gringotts could be generous enough to buy it. How much do you have to sell?" He went back to his bored tone but I knew I had him hooked.

"Oh, not much, just a 1000 kilograms." I've never seen a goblin go bug eyed before but the sight was hilarious. Harry seemed to agree if his coughing fit was any indication. As Ironfist recovered he sent a glare towards Harry before fixing me with a stare.

"Truly you jest?"

"Nope." I said popping the p. "1000Kgs of basilisk meat just as pure as the sample. Of course if you buy it you may examine it beforehand just to be assured of its quality."

"Such a large amount would be enough to dilute its price in the market. I could offer 5000 galleons for the lot of it." He was low balling me so hard it was a surprise he didn't just club me over the head and steal all the meat. The market value dropping was also a sham. I'm sure they had some sort of preservation spell they could use to keep the meat fresh and sell it piecemeal over a period of time to keep the price high.

"Wow, I didn't know Gringotts was so hard up for cash right now. Do you need a loan? I'm sure I could find some fine some upstanding people to front you the money." I could actually hear him grind his teeth at the attack on Gringotts prosperity. In my experience those that flaunt wealth try the hardest to always appear wealthy no matter what. Now he could admit the problem, almost inconceivable, or raise the price.

"Nonsense. I simply didn't see the worth of such a large amount of meat. Nevertheless, I'll take pity on you and offer 8000 galleons for it all." Still lowballing but getting there.

"Listen," I stood up with a frown and noted that his hand jerked towards something on the other side of the desk before he brought his hand under control. Probably a weapon of some sort if I had to guess. "If you're just going to waste my time I can go elsewhere. We came to Gringotts because it would take less time but if I have to sell it in pieces to get a decent price I will."

"No!" He shouted and then cleared his throat. "No, no other institution can afford to buy such a large amount. Splitting up everything would just saturate the market. That being said, even though the meat is largely worthless Gringotts can manage to buy it all for 12,000 galleons." Now we're getting somewhere. Time for the real negotiations to start. At the end of it I sold all the meat for a lump sum of 14,500 galleons and Ironfist wrote up the contract which I signed as well. "Now then. Do you have any more business with Gringotts today?"

I smiled and for some reason that made him flinch away from me. "Oh nothing much. I still have everything else from the basilisk that I got the meat from though." There was a moment of silence and then Ironfist exploded in apparent anger. I've never heard someone so small curse quite so loudly and so inventively. I almost felt like I should be taking notes.

At the end of his rant, and after the guards were dismissed, we got back down to business and I managed to get another 5,000 galleon contract out of it. Then I actually had to deliver everything I promised and they took us to a big store room that I filled with nicely separated basilisk parts. After they had checked through the goods Ironfist nearly threw the pouch containing the promised amount at me and I slipped it into my inventory.

Right before we left I stopped and turned back to him. "Can you tell me why you guys are reacting the way you are?" The surrounding goblins halted and Ironfist stared back at me for a moment before responding.

"Goblins are warriors first and bankers second. We can tell when there's a good fight to be had." He paused for a bit and looked around as though asking for permission from the others. "If you like we hold pit fights every Friday. Maybe one of our warriors could win back the gold we gave you."

"He would have to stand over my cooling corpse to do so." I replied flatly causing Ironfist and the surrounding goblins let out barking laughs.

"Yes, you're definitely invited. Now get out. I'm sick of the sight of you." The walk out of Gringotts was silent although Harry kept on shooting me glances when he thought I wasn't looking. It wasn't until we were out of earshot from the guards that I spoke up.

"So what did you get out of all that?"

"What?" I held back a sigh.

"What did you understand about the haggling and the bit at the end? What did you observe? Speak up and don't be afraid to ask questions. After all I'm your mentor now."

He began haltingly but as I calmly corrected him in some places and congratulated him in others he began to pick up steam. We got all the way through the negotiations before he stalled out for a bit on the topic of the fight pits. "Everyone seems to think you're dangerous but to me you," he glanced around and lowered his voice, "just look like a kid. Why is that?" I was silent for a bit as we moved closer to the bookstore.

"I'll show you when we get back." I left that semi ominous statement hang in the air as we walked into Flourish and Botts. The tinkering of the bell sounded as the door closed behind us and I made my way over to the counter. "Hello there I need one, no, make that two copies of every spellbook and one copy of ever book on the arcane you have. Skip history, fiction and story books."

The man behind the counter gapped at me for a moment before a disbelieving look appeared in his eyes. "Right then. Is this a joke?" I simply took my coin pouch out of my inventory and upended it over the counter. As the galleons rained down I raised an eyebrow at the now flustered clerk.

"No. Make it fast or I'll go somewhere else. Oh, and make sure to sort them by subject please."

"For such a large order you'll need something to carry it in. Can I interest you in a library trunk for an extra 20 galleons?" The man still sounded flustered but the salesman was showing through.

"Sure, just make it quick." He nodded quickly and reached down to pull out a matchbox sized trunk which expanded as he tapped his wand to it. Next he tapped what appeared to be some sort of rune cluster and books began to fly off the shelves and disappear into the trunk. The action garnered some attention from other patrons but other than a little whispering we were ignored.

It took another ten minutes for the flow of books to stop and once it did the clerk rang up everything. I've never seen the face of someone when you combine their birthday and Christmas together with a pair of naked promiscuous twins as a present but I believe that would be adequate to describe the man's face as he saw the total. Must be the store owner or something. "The total is 3,724 galleons." I just tipped my coin pouch over until he stopped me. There was some sort of counting spell cast on the counter that displayed the number of coins so I knew I wasn't being cheated. "Thank you for your patronage. Have a wonderful day." The man said cheerfully as he shrunk the trunk for me.

As we left the store Harry made an offhand comment to me. "You know, I know someone who would probably die of jealousy if they saw what just happened."

"Oh?" I questioned as I moved towards a shop I saw earlier.

"Yeah, she's a total bookworm. Reads everything she can get her hands on." There was a hint of melancholy in his voice as he spoke and I assume that she was one of his ex-friends. We entered the shop I wanted to go to and his voice took a curious quality. "Why are we here?"

"What? Do you want to continue using the sleeping bag?" His blush was answer enough and I turned to the clerk. "Hello, I was wondering if you had a catalogue for tents that I could browse."

"Yes, sir." She handed me a small book. "Please, take your time deciding." I simply started flipping through the book that was filled with pictures and descriptions of their various tents. I found what I was looking for when I saw one with two bedrooms, a storage area, a kitchen, a main area and a hot tub/shower combo.

"Two of these. Fully furnished please." I turned the book around and pointed at the picture. She nodded and two small bundles of cloth floated out from the back of the shop. She also bent down and placed a book on the counter.

"That'll be 500 galleons and each purchase each comes with an instruction manual. It also doubles as a safety guide and by buying these tents you assume all responsibility of making sure the dimensional expansions don't give out and crush you like a bug." I raised an eyebrow as she cheerfully talked about our possible demise.

"I assume that doesn't happen often does it?" Harry asked with a bit of horror in his voice.

"Oh no. The last time it happened was 50 years ago but I'm required by law to tell you this before you buy it." Her tales of a grisly death didn't phase me and I counted out the required money before throwing everything into my inventory. "Thank you and have a nice day."

The bell jingled as we left and we didn't talk much until we came to the entrance of another alley. Just as I was about to enter it Harry caught my arm and pulled me back. "What are you doing? That's Knockturn Alley. It's a haven for Dark things."

"So?" I wasn't seeing any problem with strolling down it. If it was actually 'Dark' as Harry said then maybe it would have more interesting types of magic than what I got at the last book store.

"So," his eyes narrowed at me. "It's dangerous."

"Not really. See look, five people just came out of it. If it was actually dangerous then they wouldn't be strolling along like nothing was going on. Besides I thought you would be someone who would understand that some things are exaggerated what with your language skills."

He looked displeased at that then thoughtful before he finally conceded the point and we went into Knockturn. I also wanted to get rid of the three people who began following us after the bookstore and if they disappeared in a disreputable area then who are we to blame? As I thought the actual alley wasn't exactly dangerous although I did see quite a few hags, some people who smelled of dog which were probably werewolves and some shady looking people but that was it. We wandered until I saw a bookstore called Hecate's Books that seemed interesting.

As soon as we entered my eyes focused on the too pale red haired woman standing behind the counter. She felt both dead and alive to me and when she smiled her canines were just a tad too long. A vampire then. I smiled right back at her and ignored her hungry look for now. "Well hello there miss. My friend and I were wandering on by and I couldn't help but notice your lovely little bookstore. You wouldn't happen to have any books that would be impossible to find in Diagon Alley would you?"

Her eyes never left mine as she retained her hungry look. "Perhaps. I might even be willing to part with them. For a price of course."

"Of course. Now what would that price entail?"

"Blood." She said simply. "I have no need for money after all these years but I can smell the power wafting off of you. Your blood would be divine." Really have to figure out how to hide that. Everyone and their mother is commenting about it.

I pretended to consider even though I had no intention of giving her one drop of my blood. "I quite like where my blood is right now but I'm willing to make a compromise." I held up a vial of basilisk blood. For some reason the goblins hadn't wanted it at all. Her eyes darted to the vial and then back to me before she licked her lips.

"The blood holds power. Whose is it?"

"Not whose, what's, this comes from a thousand year old basilisk." She licked her lips again and I smiled. Time for some negotiation. Half an hour later we walked out of the store with quite a few books on the Dark Arts, Rituals, Mind Magic and even one book on Blood Magic for the low price of half the basilisks blood. Unfortunately the last one was more of a history of blood magic than actual spells but it was still something I could read and potentially extrapolate from there. In addition my clone had picked up our followers and I would get an update later after it finished with them.

Other than that nothing else caught my eye and we made our way back to Diagon Alley. As soon as we arrived I turned and smiled at Harry. "See, nothing too it."

"I guess." He replied noncommittally although he looked a bit uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine." I looked at him with a quirked eyebrow until he turned away.

"Well, when you want to talk about it I'm all ears. While we're here do you want or need anything?" He shook his head and with a shrug I set out for the floo so we could get back to Hogsmeade. Harry had the same problem with the floo as last time but once more my henge held up and once we entered the Shrieking Shack I was finally able to drop it. I also changed my henge from Minato to an older version of myself.

We were about halfway through the tunnel when I grasped Harry's shoulder, keeping him from stepping over some sort of magic. This definitely hadn't been here when we went out and the fact that it was here now was worrying. "What is it?" Harry asked.

"Some sort of magic ahead. I'm trying to get a feel for it now." It didn't feel offensive or defensive but more of a surveillance type than anything else. I got close enough that my nose was almost brushing the magic line and then pulled back. Definitely surveillance but nothing to keep people out only to let whomever cast this know someone is coming. "Is there a spell you know that lets you know when people walk through it?"

"Err, that sounds like runes and warding. I never took those classes." I concealed my exasperated eye roll. Why would you not take a class like that? Regardless the question is to proceed or not?

Going into my ID was out of the question right now until I confirmed or denied whether or not the Nibi was reforming and I wouldn't show off that kind of skill to Harry. We could just go back to the Shack and not return until Harry needed to or now that I had my spell books I could just leave. There was nothing stopping me from doing so except my word that I would mentor him. Well that and the fact that if anything Harry was under exaggerating how famous he was. I had seen the books about him and the combination of famous, wealthy and proper motive for revenge was a real kicker. Of course I could dispose of both Dobby and Harry eliminating that problem but it would just create new ones.

My face was blank as I turned to face Harry. "Alright let's get this over with. Your Headmaster will probably be waiting up at the castle if we cross over the line. Just remember, you are completely entitled to a mentor no matter what he says and we met at the Quidditch World Cup. Or we could just avoid him and sneak our way back to the chamber. Your choice."

His face scrunched up in thought before he let out a sigh. "Professor Dumbledore can see through my invisibility cloak somehow so I don't think we could sneak past him. I guess we'll talk to him." I nodded and started mentally preparing. Apparently the people here consider Dumbledore the best thing since sliced bread and I guess I get to find out if that's true or not.

We walked through the barrier and I repressed a shiver as a portion of the magic latched onto me. I destroyed it and then did the same to Harry without him noticing. While I was uncomfortable with the idea of walking through alarm wards I sure as hell wasn't going to allow them to track me. Besides it would probably increase my credibility as a mentor to Harry by being able to identify and destroy the trackers.

The walk up to the front hallway didn't take too long and sure enough an old man with a flowing silvery beard and garish robes, whom I assumed to be Dumbledore, stood next to a greasy haired man with a hooked nose and a sneer on his face as they waited for us to arrive. As we got closer the older man spoke and I noted the unnatural twinkle in his eyes. "Harry, my boy, while I do enjoy the exuberance of youth it has come to my attention that you were outside the castle bounds. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" He spoke in such a calm grandfatherly voice that it actually set my hackles on edge. He fit the stereotypical grandfatherly figure well, almost too well for my tastes.

Interestingly enough Harry, who hadn't backed down from anything today, became almost subservient as soon as Dumbledore spoke. It was a type of ingrained behavior that I'd seen in servants and a few slaves that I've rescued before. "I left to get a mentor, sir."

"A mentor? Whatever would you need a mentor for when you have the teachers of Hogwarts?" As he spoke his eyes met mine and some type of spell shot from his eyes to hit the eyes of my henge. I caught the brief wince of pain before he smothered it.

"For the Triwizard tournament, sir. The rules stated that a mentor couldn't be teachers and since everyone else is at least 17 I needed all the help I could get."

"A likely story Potter," the dark haired man spat out and as he did the same tendril of magic that Dumbledore used on my henge shot out of his eyes. I had a good idea what it was now and I wouldn't let that happen. My arm shot out faster than they could see to intercept the magic before it could hit Harry's eyes and then withdrew as it dissipated against my henge. The man winched but continued on like nothing had happened. "No doubt this is just a new way to seek attention or the brat has finally realized his actions have consequences and hired the first miscreant he could find to help him." Harry's gaze hardened but he didn't say anything back.

"Now, now Severus I'm sure that this is all just a big misunderstanding." Another tendril of magic leapt from his eyes to Harry's and I blocked it again. Apparently they had no concept of privacy, not that I'm one to really talk. "I do believe we've never met before Mr.-"

"Shiro." He waited for me to say a second name but when none was forthcoming he continued onwards.

"Mr. Shiro. I do believe that there has been some kind of mistake. You see young Harry is not in need of a mentor at this moment." I crossed my arms over my chest as I regarded him. Another tendril of magic came from Severus' eyes and met my henge. Who knew such a simple technique could cause so much trouble for mind readers.

"And I do believe that it is not up to you to decide that. Mr. Potter came to me asking for a mentor for the duration of the Triwizard tournament. After hearing him out I have agreed to it and that's that."

"Now see hear you-" I cut Severus off.

"I really don't know why you're even trying to fight this. According to the rules of the tournament he's allowed to have a mentor." I raised an eyebrow as I looked between them. "Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the Goblet in charge of enforcing the rules?" I let that sink in for a moment before I continued. "Now by that logic as one of the organizers and headmaster of Hogwarts you are also bound by those rules so if you try to outright break them…" I trailed off and then shrugged. "Well I'm just warning you because I don't want an ancient magical artefact to harm you."

There was silence for a moment as Albus' attack dog looked to his master for orders. The silence stretched out as his blue twinkling eyes met mine and then he genially nodded. Point for me. "Of course, of course. You'll have to forgive me. In my old age memories fade and I simply wanted to ensure young Harry's safety. Rather unfortunately he was made famous due to a tragic event and that sort of fame brings all sorts of attention both good and bad."

Harry tensed at the mention of his fame although his eyes never stopped going back and forth between us as we had our verbal sparring. "Of course. I can assure you that my intentions are entirely pure. I simply want Mr. Potter to survive the upcoming tournament otherwise I would not be here."

He made a humming noise as he regarded me. "I want to believe you my dear fellow but the safety of my students comes first. How can I be sure that your intentions are pure?"

"Nothing is ever completely sure except the fact that we will all die one day. That is the one constant of life and the rest is a haze of uncertainty which makes life so interesting. Besides, Mr. Potter is the only one I need approval from."

"Be that as it may I will have to bar access to the castle for the safety of the students." Point for him although Harry twitched at that statement. I'll have to get the full story for that later.

"Then I will meet my student outside the castle grounds." I said calmly. I wouldn't let Dumbledore brush me off as a technical mentor and… Why am I fighting so hard for this? Before I could finish the thought Dumbledore had continued on as I heard a ding.

"I'm afraid young Harry is already in quite a bit of trouble for sneaking off campus grounds. It shall be quite hard for him to see you for the moment."

"Actually according to the rules of the tournament he is in no trouble at all. He has every right to take whatever actions he deems necessary to compete to his utmost ability in the tournament as long as they are not illegal. Furthermore all distractions such as detentions are voided unless the champion agrees to attend them."

"You can't be serious-" Severus began before he was motioned to stand down by Dumbledore. A major point to me if he's calling off the dog.

"You seem to have quite a grasp for the rules of the tournament." An open ended statement meant to draw out information if I've ever heard one.

"I get by." I said with a shrug and then went silent. He seemed perfectly willing to let me continue but I had no intention of doing so. I could wait here forever while they did not have the same luxury. At the five minute mark Harry started to squirm a bit but a glance saw him settling back down. It also gave me a chance to study the pop up that occurred.

 **Ding!**

 **Quest Received:**

 **A Rising Champion**

 **As a mentor to Harry Potter ensure that he is crowned the Triwizard champion. Bonus rewards are available if you meet certain conditions.**

 **Rewards: 35,000xp, ?**

This seems like too big a coincidence to ignore. I didn't really question when I landed right next to someone who was perfectly placed to use each other for mutual benefit because, hey, in an infinite universe in an infinite number of realities it's bound to happen. The odds were both infinitely approaching zero and infinitely approaching 100 at the same time for each jump. I just thought I got lucky but now this pops up right as I was seriously considering to just technically fulfill my promise a quest pops up. No, that stinks of manipulation just like how my memories have been removed twice now. For now I would go with it as I had no idea what would happen if I tried to buck the harness too soon.

We had drawn a small crowd during out standoff and Dumbledore was the one to break it. "Perhaps we can reach an agreement."

"I don't know what agreement we're trying to reach here. All I see is you trying to separate me from my student." The statement hit home amongst the crowd and soon enough whispers started up. Dumbledore's eyes flashed briefly before they resumed their twinkling.

"I feel like a more private setting would be appropriate to continue this discussion Mr. Shiro."

"If you wanted this to be private you shouldn't have ambushed us at the front door." I spoke loudly enough that my voice carried over the whispers. A glare from Severus sent them scurrying away though. What a nice little attack dog. He's got everyone trained to fear him. With a sigh I continued speaking. "Listen, I get that you want to keep your students safe but you really need to let up from trying to stop me from seeing Mr. Potter. I don't think the Goblet will stand for much more of this."

As I finished I started directing a small amount of killing intent at him and I made sure to keep a concerned expression on my face as I did so. It would start out as a minor buzz in the back of his head. The subconscious portion of the brain telling him that something is very, very wrong and he needs to do something about it right now. When he didn't respond I slowly wracked it up until I saw his eyes start to dart and a bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. "Are you alright Professor?" Bless you Harry you have wonderful timing.

"I-" he dabbed at his sweat with a small handkerchief that he conjured and I had to make sure I didn't flinch at the feel of his wand. Death pervaded the wand but whereas Harry's cloak made it seem like Death was draping over you the wand felt like you were staring down a barrel of a gun right before someone pulled the trigger. Regardless of this new trinket of Death I had to focus on the conversation for now as even Severus was looking at Dumbledore with something akin to worry. "-I do believe that it will be fine for Mr. Shiro to mentor young Harry." As soon as he said that I cut the killer intent and he visibly sagged.

"That," he caught his breath, "was an extremely uncomfortable experience. I knew we shouldn't have restarted this tournament but Cornelius insisted."

"Yes, well, at the very least you shouldn't have used an ancient artefact. Who knows how its magic has twisted over the years. Take this castle for example," I reached out and brushed my hand against the stone. I damn near jumped when the spiritual energy actually purred at me. "It seems almost alive after all these years." A bit too alive for my liking.

"Yes," he said chuckling. "It certainly seems that way at times. May we retire to a more private venue to discuss accommodation for you during your stay at Hogwarts?"

For now at least the posturing is over. My little tactic at the end seemed to knock the wind out of his sails and I think I came out a head. Time would tell I suppose. I smiled at him. "Of course, Headmaster."

 **Age: 10 years - 4 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 31 - 3% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,750/1,750**

 **Chakra: 97,287/97,287**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 180(234)**

 **VIT: 175**

 **END: 167**

 **DEX: 189(208)**

 **INT: 200(214)**

 **WIS: 150(160)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 18**

 **Money: 921,402 ryo/ 15,276 galleons**

 **Skills learned: I'm not going to list individual spells here unless it's something like Fiendfyre.**

 **Charms Mastery(Passive) LVL 1 – 3%**

 **The unique subset of spells classified as charms. As your mastery rises the cost and control over charms improves.**

 **Decreases cost by 0.1%**

 **Increases control** **by 1%**


	34. Training Starts

**Author's Note: I've found that longer chapters for the Potter verse work out because it allows me to expand on what Shiro is thinking during all of this. I also want to thank you all as the story has passed the 1500 follower mark along with the 200k word mark. Thank you all so much and enjoy the longer chapters while they last.**

The walk to the Dumbledore's office was mostly silent between all four of us although Severus would intermittently glare or sneer at Harry. I wonder what had happened to create such enmity between the two or perhaps he was following orders. I played back Severus' actions towards Harry in my mind and had to conclude that it wasn't an act, he truly disliked Harry, but he was playing it up. Curious.

A flood of memories hit me as one of my clones popped. It would seem that our three stalkers back in Diagon Alley were nothing more than opportunistic thieves that had seen me flaunting my wealth and decided to have a go at us. Eh, sucks to be them but I had three new wands to study now and my medical autopsy reports showed that all three of them had enlarged glands in their heads. My initial hypothesis would be that these glands were responsible for these people's abnormally high spiritual power.

I focused back to the present when we arrived at a stone gargoyle and Dumbledore said a password that caused the gargoyle to move upwards revealing a set of stairs. You would think the Headmaster would be a bit more available to students then hidden behind a password protected gargoyle but perhaps he's just the standoffish type. Hmm, I pondered as we walked up the stairs and there was nothing I could do, unless I wanted to do something extreme, as an identification ward took my chakra signature and added it to its database. I really needed to study runes here if they could do something like this. The security applications were astounding if annoying to deal with now.

We entered the large circular room that must be Dumbledore's office. It was filled to the brim with books, paintings and an assortment of odd devices that continuously whirled about along with numerous windows that showed stunning views. The thing that caught my attention the most was a device that emitted puffs of smoke and had the faintest connecting thread of magic to Harry along with a stronger thread that trailed off to the south. The only reason I knew the connection was there at all was because Harry was so close to the device otherwise it would have faded into the background.

I was jolted out of this revelation by a flash of flame by the large desk in the middle of the room. A Being of fire flew out of the flames and landed on a perch nearby before it trilled at us. Oddly enough I understood what it was saying. _Oi, pet human! I demand more berries!_ "Ah, Fawkes. How lovely of you to join us here today old friend." Dumbledore reached out to gently scratch Fawkes' head and the Being cooed. _Yes, right there. Hey wait! I didn't tell you to stop and where are my berries? Oh, mother would be so ashamed of me if she saw I couldn't even tame my pet human properly._ Dumbledore sat down at his desk and conjured two chairs for us to sit in by waving his hand. A nice theatrical move if I hadn't felt his Death stick pulse when he did it. "Please make yourselves comfortable. Would either of you like a lemon drop?"

We both declined and he shrugged before popping one in his mouth. "Now Mr. Shiro," he paused for a second. "I'm sorry is that your first or last name?" Ah, the probing questions begin.

"It is my first name. I have not earned my last name yet." I noticed Fawkes perk up. _Hey, you speak my language. Tell the bearded one to give me berries._

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose. "Truly? Forgive an old man but I don't seem to recall any magical communities that practice that tradition."

"Ah, we are a hidden village surrounded by a vast forest. I sorry to say that I can't tell you the name of it."

"Can't or won't?"

I smiled at him. "Yes." His eyebrows twitched at my non-answer. _Don't ignore me or I'll come over there and peck you._ My eyes darted over to the Being who was unfolding its wings as though to launch itself at me so I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry for the complete subject change but your friend Fawkes wants berries."

Everyone shifted their gaze to Fawkes who was bobbing his head up and down while warbling happily. Dumbledore's eyes traveled back and forth between Fawkes and I before he smiled politely. In that moment I knew that he knew that I could understand Fawkes somehow. "Of course, nothing but the best for my dear companion." He reached into his desk and withdrew a packet of berries. He took out three and placed them within easy reach of Fawkes who trilled happily. "No more than three though. Anymore and you have terrible gas." _Silly human, nothing about me is terrible. My mother told me I am majesty given form._

There was a brief surge of happiness within me as Fawkes' beautiful songlike voice rang throughout the room before it was smothered by calm once more. Everyone else seemed to be entranced by it before Fawkes cut off his song and they returned to their senses. "Thank you Fawkes that was delightful as always." Dumbledore turned to me. "Shall we get back to the business at hand?"

I gave him a nod and he continued. "I believe that the guest rooms on the second floor are furnished. You may stay there for the time being and I'm sure Severus would be delighted to show you to them after we are done here." Severus looked anything but delighted to show me anywhere but didn't complain. "Now all that is left is to work out a schedule around Harry's classes…" He trailed off and his eyebrows nearly touched as he gazed at Harry. "Harry my dear boy. Why are you not in your house colors?"

More than a bit of anger appeared on Harry's face as he spoke. "I was expelled from Gryffindor because apparently I was unbecoming of it after my name came out of the Goblet."

Dumbledore's seemed truly puzzled by this turn of events. "The students do not have the power to expel you from Gryffindor only censor you. To truly expel you they would need the approval of your head of house and Minerva would never do such a thing without at least telling me."

"Well they did." Harry stated mulishly.

"Excuse me for a moment." Dumbledore cast something forming a construct of light and happiness that took a form similar to Fawkes. He whispered something to it and it flew off. Presumably in search of Minerva. "Do not worry Harry we'll get this sorted out quickly and get you back to Gryffindor." Beat him while he's down why don't you.

"I'm not going back." Harry's voice was almost a whisper before he repeated it louder. "I'm not going back. Whether they succeeded or not at expelling me they made their choice."

"My dear boy I'm sure they didn't-"

"NO!" He shouted then lowered his voice. "No, they did and I won't go back."

"Just because you're a spoiled rotten child doesn't mean that you always get what you want Potter. Not this time. Not after you disrespected the Headmaster."

"Severus, please, not now." I could almost see Dumbledore switching tactics. "Harry, what is done is done but you can prove yourself the better person by forgiving them for their foolish act. After all forgiveness is the most wondrous of human traits."

I want whatever he's smoking. It must be nice to see everyone in a better light. Still, I feel I should interject. "Perhaps it is, but forcing forgiveness only leads to bitterness. Sticking Mr. Potter back with the same people who cast him away not a day later would be like throwing salt into an open wound."

He blinked as though he didn't expect me to comment as he threw Harry back to the wolves. "But what about his friends in Gryffindor. Surely they will miss his presence."

"My friends were part of the group expelling me." Harry said bitterly. "I don't think they see me as their friend anymore."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a white cat construct bounding into the room. "THEY DID WHAT!?" An older woman's voice boomed out of the cat and everyone winched at the volume. It had taken an iron effort of will not to slam my hands over my ears. Sometimes having superior hearing sucked. "When I get to the bottom of this they'll be the ones wishing they were expelled!" With its message delivered the construct fell apart and we were all left with ringing ears as an awkward silence fell between us.

Dumbledore was the one to break the silence. "Well it seems like Minerva is on the case. I'm sure she'll sort things out quickly." For a headmaster of a school of magic he deals in surety a lot. "There is still the matter of Harry's sleeping arrangements. Harry, my boy, I implore you to look past this and rejoin your colleagues in Gryffindor tower." I glanced over at Harry and saw him buckling down on the matter.

"Listen," I said to stave off any further argument. I really just want to go start working on my new skills and you're all delaying that. "It sounded like Minerva in no way agreed to expel Harry from Gryffindor, right?" Everyone acknowledged the fact so I continued. "So he's still a Gryffindor but forcing him back could be detrimental to his performance in the tournament. So why not let him sleep somewhere else and let tempers cool off between him and his house? This way he can forgive them on his own time and focus on surviving the tournament." I tacked on the forgiveness for Dumbledore. If it were me I would have had both middle fingers up and shouting obscenities as I left or been silent and made their lives miserable down the line. One of the two. It depends on how vindictive I was feeling.

"I would like that." Harry interjected quickly before anyone else could say anything. Another silence fell between all of us as Dumbledore stared at Harry before letting out a sigh.

"I wish I could dissuade you from this matter but it would seem your mind is made up. There is another guest bedroom next to Shiro's that I can open for your use. Now there is still the matter of classes and Shiro's mentoring."

"Since I'm in the tournament I don't need to go to classes, sir." Harry interjected quickly.

"Another rule of the tournament?" There was an equal hint of exasperation and frustration in his voice.

"Yes sir."

"Then I can only encourage you to attend to your classes as while the tournament is important your education is still crucial to you." He turned to me. "May I at least have an observer to watch over some of your lessons? I merely fear that your lessons might not be appropriate for a boy his age." While it would probably stop him from learning any of my jutsus, if he even could, I still had a plan on how to teach him and an observer wouldn't hinder me. Additionally we had won most, if not all, our verbal engagements. If we didn't throw him something then he could start causing trouble. Give and take is the key as long as you come out ahead.

"That decision is up to Harry. If he has someone he trusts to observe us then I have no problem with it."

Harry was looking at me with his mouth wide open as though he couldn't believe I would throw this on him while a calculating look had appeared in Dumbledore's eyes and he gave me the tiniest nod as he acknowledged the move. "Err, are you sure Shiro?"

I nodded calmly. "If you trust someone enough to have them observe us then yes I am." And we could always have secret training at night when we weren't observed. He looked back and forth between Dumbledore and me.

"Um, can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course my boy. Could I expect an answer with a day or two?" Harry nodded and he continued. "I believe that concludes our business here unless there's anything else? No? Severus could you please escort them to their rooms."

Severus grumbled something about a spoiled brat but nodded and escorted us out after we had said our goodbyes. As we were walking along Harry's robes changed color to have red and gold on its trims and on his tie. He frowned at the change but didn't say anything for the moment. After a while we came to a painting of a knight with a gleaming halberd. "Good day sirs. Might you be needing to access to the guest room?"

"Yes," Severus said smoothly. "The password is ice mice and you may choose to change it after I leave. Potter your room is across the hall and your password is slug worm. If there is nothing else I shall take my leave." He glided away and I looked over to Harry.

"Let's go get your stuff shall we?" He nodded and made to speak but I continued on before he could. "I find it fascinating that these paintings can move between frames and talk to one another. Do you think they gossip about what they see in the halls?"

His mouth clicked shut and I saw him eye the surrounding paintings in a new light. Good, now he would watch his tongue around them. After all the best spies are the ones that blend in so much that they become inconsequential even if seen. "I suppose so. I've never thought about it before."

"Always be aware of your surroundings." I stated firmly and left it at that until we managed to make our way to the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets. It wasn't until the pillars had closed behind us that I began to speak. "Same thing as before with the goblins. What did you observe? What questions do you have?"

He started off and by the time we got to the bottom he was almost finished except for one question. "You were doing so well until you agreed to have an observer. Why did you let me decided to have one or not?"

I picked up his broom and handed it to him. "It was for precisely that reason that I did that. I'm an outsider that Dumbledore has no knowledge of mentoring one of his students. If I didn't make a concession he could have made our lives as difficult as possible while still abiding by the rules of the tournament as he was trying to do in the beginning. Besides any observer can't be there all the time."

I made a clone go off and start absorbing the standard seven year course work for Hogwarts. It would give me an idea on the average skill level people graduated with and plan accordingly. "If you want to we could start your training now." I said as we walked into the now nearly spotless chamber. Dobby worked fast I see.

"Really? That would be brilliant." I nodded and motioned for him to draw his wand.

"What's the strongest spell that you can cast repeatedly?" Harry's face furrowed in thought.

"Well I know the Patronus but if I'm supposed to use it repeatedly then I guess _Expelliarmus_."

"Good. What I want you to do is cast that as many times in a row as possible. We'll use that as a benchmark as we go on so you can see your progress yourself. Cast whenever you're ready." He nodded and took up a stance before he began casting.

As that was happening my clone popped giving me the first year spells. It was probably a good thing that it only had the first year spells because I felt a dribble of blood run out of my nose. 'Too much too fast,' I thought as my head felt like it was exploding. Despite this internal pain I didn't outwardly show it except to clean up the blood while Harry repeated shouted out his spell. Just another thing to work on if only so I wouldn't have to listen to him yell all the time.

He got to 89 spells in a row before it proved to be too much and he dropped to his knees gasping for breath. He still had quite a bit of spiritual energy left but it would seem that his physical side once more held him back. "89 spells in a row, not bad at all." He gave me a flimsy smile before he resumed trying to catch his breath. "Now that we know your limit the only thing left to do is improve it. In this case I can tell that your physical side is the thing holding you back so we'll work on that first. Before that though would you allow me to perform a medical examination on you? I need to know if there's anything wrong so I can either fix it or know not to push you to hard."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Do you have to?"

"No, but if I do then it'll allow me to create a more thorough plan." He dithered and dallied for a while before cautiously nodding. "Great. Why don't you lay down on the sleeping bag and we'll get started." He did so and I spent the next thirty minutes using my mystical palms to diagnose him. This is not to say that I was being slow it was just there was so much stuff wrong with him. As I finished I leaned back with a sigh which made him look at me with worry. If I could I would use Angel's Breath on him but with all the foreign stuff in him I think that would be a bad idea. Not to mention the fact that I had no intention of using that technique unless they were unconscious and dying with no one able to see what I was doing. I might not even use it even if that was the case.

I ran my hand through my hair as I thought about where to start. "Alright, bad news first. You're malnourished, borderline starving, which is why you're short for your age group." He flinched and looked away but I kept going. "You also have older bone fractures and breaks that never seemed to heal properly. You're good for now but later in life they'll cause you problems. Your right arm's bones are a completely different age then the rest of your body for some reason so I suspect that it was regrown somehow." I took a deep breath before I continued. "Your blood is… poisonous as it somehow contains a small volume of basilisk venom. How this is possible without your organs liquefying I don't know but it doesn't seem to be affecting you along with something else that I can't identify. Then there's this." I poked his scar.

The action caused Harry to flinch away from me and reflexively rub at his scar. "What's wrong with my scar?"

"Do you know what a phylactery is?"

"No, what is it?"

I didn't know any way to put this delicately so I just bluntly told him. "A phylactery is the physical object in which a person places their soul to escape death."

It took a moment to sink in but as his breath quickened and his pupils shrank I knew he understood. Well, that and he was going into shock. A light backhanded slap across his face took care of that for now. "You hit me." Harry said incredulously as he rubbed at his cheek.

"Yes. I don't have time for you to go into shock right now. Call Dobby and have him fetch whatever was used to regrow your arm bones."

"You hit me." He said still in a bit of a daze which made me sigh.

"Yes and I'll do it again if you don't call Dobby." I said as I unrolled a scroll and started writing seals on it.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm creating a seal that will stop the soul from escaping when I remove it from you. As it is right now it is merely a bundle of spiritual energy trapped between your skin and your skull." Sealing Tailed Beasts and a free floating soul seemed similar enough as both were just masses of energy although Tailed Beasts had a physical component.

"Oh… Dobby." As soon as Harry said his name he appeared with a pop.

"Dobby is here."

"Dobby could you please get a potion of skelegrow. I'll be needing it soon." At least his voice contained some hope now. I didn't focus on what Dobby said in return but soon enough he returned with a foul smelling potion in hand as I continued to writing seals on the scroll. "So how are you going to do this?"

I didn't respond as I finished and directed the seal off the scroll towards Harry's forehead. He let out a gasp as the inky lines impacted him but stood still until the last bit had transferred to his head. I moved his bangs aside to see his lightning bolt scar surrounded by a black circle with regular swirls facing outwards. "Now that the soul piece is sealed I'm going to remove a large chunk of your skull."

"Okay." I raised an eyebrow.

"Just okay? You're taking this quite calmly all things considered."

"I think I'm actually still in shock but you said you can remove it so I think that's helping quite a bit. I'll probably be angry at you later because you hit me."

"Hmm, good for you. Anyways I need you to be conscious so you can drink that potion. Now I'm going to numb your forehead." I injected some localized anesthesia as soon as I said that and waited until it took effect. After some prodding to assure that it was working I took out a scalpel and infused it with wind chakra. Four careful slices later and I was holding a portion of Harry's skull as he drank the skelegrow. It must have tasted horrible if the stench was anything to go by and his grimace just confirmed it.

As he was doing that I set the removed portion of his skull to the side and started working on healing him. It was actually kind of fascinating to watch his skull bubble as it regrew the portions that were lost. I helped it along by supplying some energy to it which sped up the process tremendously. It took about 3 hours to finish sealing the hole in his forehead along with growing his skin back. I also did some touch up on older injuries just to be thorough. When I was done the skin on his forehead still looked red and tender but it would do for now. Curiously enough his scar reformed on his forehead although I couldn't detect anything that would cause such a thing to happen. Still, I've done all I could for right now so I stepped back from Harry.

"So, how do you feel?"

Harry looked down at his hands before flexing them and looking around. "I feel good. Really good, like some burden I didn't even know I had was lifted." His gaze focused on his removed portion of his skull and he shuddered. "Are we going to destroy that now?"

"You know how to do that?"

"Yeah, I've encountered a phylactery before or at least I think it was. It held the memories of Voldemort as a teenager in the form of a book and it was trying to suck out someone's soul to regain its form." I nodded. That sounds like a phylactery to me although how a 12 year old got mixed up in enough stuff to kill a medium sized summon then encounter a phylactery was a mystery.

"You did destroy it right?"

"Oh, yeah, down here in this chamber actually. I stabbed a basilisk tooth into it and it destroyed him." The pieces of the puzzle clicked in my head. So the basilisk venom also destroys spiritual energy. I glanced at Harry. That doesn't explain how he's surviving with it in his bloodstream or why it didn't destroy the soul piece though.

"Sounds like a story to tell your grandchildren." I held up a vial of basilisk venom. "Do you want to do the honors?" He grinned widely and poured a generous amount onto it. We waited for a moment and Harry was just about to pour more when a black tar like substance started oozing from the scar. Not a second later a small wisp of dark smoke burst out of it and formed a face before screaming in agony as it disappeared.

"That was Voldemort." Harry said woodenly as I took the vial back from him. "That bloody wanker had a piece of his soul stuck in my head. I mean as soon as you said I had a soul stuck in my scar I thought it was him, but still." He trailed off looking quite ill before he suddenly leaned to the side and started vomiting. I checked him to make sure he wasn't feeling any side effects of having a soul removed from him but it was just a natural body reaction so I stepped back.

He continued vomiting until nothing more was left. Then he dry heaved for a bit longer until he whipped an arm across his mouth. When he stood and turned to face me I could see the fire within his eyes. A driving need to improve himself. 'Good. Let's see how far that drive goes.'

"I want, no, need to become stronger. Can you help me?"

"Of course. I'm your mentor after all." I tossed him a field ration and cleaned his vomit from the floor with a charm. "Eat half of that now. I know it tastes like wet cardboard but it'll start you on the road to becoming a healthy weight." He unwrapped it and started eating, only gagging slightly at the taste. I didn't blame him. What he just ate would be considered a full days calorie requirements along with vitamins and something to keep you alert. Great for a meal on the go in the field but it tasted horrible. When he was done he tucked the half eaten bar in a pocket and looked towards me. "Good. We would do some physical exercises but I don't want to stress your body too much right now so we'll work on your magical side for now."

Harry nodded eagerly and I motioned him to sit down as I sat across from him. "Pull out your wand." He did so and looked towards me for further instructions. "Tell me what is in your hand."

"Err, my wand."

"No! What you have in your hand is a crutch that shapes your magic for you. Your power grows stagnant as you don't actively direct it to your will but allow a tool to do it for you. What we need to do is ween you off your reliance of your wand to work magic." He rolled the wand in the palm of his hand with a complex mix mash of emotions running across his face before he looked at me.

"I know you can do wandless magic, but you're from another world. Do you really think I can do the same?"

"Yes." I stated simply. "Wizards and witches must have been able to use magic before the wand was invented so by that logic you must be capable of wandless magic. To get you more in tune with your magic I'm going to put you through a sensor course."

"What's a sensor course?"

"It's something we use to train people to sense chakra or magic in your case. I'll need your wand and glasses for this." He handed them over with a frown and I pulled out a blindfold to place over his eyes. "You're going to be devoid most of your senses until you complete this. All you have to do is follow the magic."

"Whaz?" His speech came out slurred as the muscle relaxant took effect along with the general anesthetic.

"Remember follow the magic." I said as I hopped away from him and flared a bit of chakra. He didn't react so I increased it until he gasped and started to crawl towards me. 'Good, just like that.' About an hour into it he suddenly stopped and I felt his magic change as he looked right at me with an awed expression on his face. I tilted my head at the display and started moving to the right yet he unerringly looked right at me.

With a grin I turned up my chakra dampening to nearly max yet he was still able to follow my movements with only minor difficulty. The training was a success then. I walked over to him and removed the blindfold from his head. The first thing I noticed was that his eyes had changed. They had been brilliantly green before yet now they almost seemed to glow. "I'm going to assume that you can see magic now or something of that nature, right?" He only jerkily nodded as I set about fixing him up. "What do you see then?" I asked as I helped him sit up while placing his wand and glasses in his hand.

"I can see why everyone was reacting oddly around you." He stated in an almost whispered tone as his eyes never left me. I was a bit peeved as everything on this damn world can seem to see through my chakra dampening technique. It's really not fair. I snapped my fingers in front of his nose making him blink.

"I'll think you're channeling Hina if you keep looking at me like that."

"Who's that?"

"A friend of mine. She can see chakra but also see through objects." I leaned in close like I was telling a secret. "She's also one of the biggest closet perverts ever because of it." It brought me no small amount of amusement to think that somehow, someway, Hina was twitching because I was spreading rumors about her again. The blush that spread up Harry's face as he quickly looked away was just a bonus.

"Anyways, try looking at yourself now."

He looked down and gasped. "You know I really should be angry at you for drugging me out of the blue like that but being able to see like this more than makes up for it."

"You can be angry all you want as long as it doesn't interfere with your training. Just don't bottle up all your emotions or you'll explode over nothing one day." The sheepish expression that came over his face told me that he's done something similar before. "Regardless of that you need to learn how to turn your new sight on and off. I'm sure you don't want to be half blinded just by looking at Hogwarts. Oh, and a warning for you. If your eyes ever starts to become irritated when you're using your new sight turn it off immediately. It's usually a sign that you're overusing it."

He nodded seriously and we spent the next half hour just getting him used to turning his, what I'm calling Mage Sight, on and off. After that we timed it to see how long it took before his eyes started to become irritated. It turned out he could hold it for 10 minutes before he had to stop because his eyes started watering. A decent amount of time all told. Then, after he had recovered slightly, I set him on the next part of his training.

"Take out your wand again and if you're able to use your Mage Sight as you cast _lumos._ " Harry nodded and did as I asked him. "Did you see how the magic was shaped?"

"Yeah," he looked up from his wand. "You want me to try to do this wandlessly now right?" I gave him a smile. I do like it when people can think ahead.

"Yep, put your wand away and try it."

An intense look of concentration appeared on his face after he put his wand away and held his hand up. It was like he was almost trying to glare his magic into submission but I did feel his magic shifting as it traveled up his arm. It pooled in his finger and went no further. Harry gritted his teeth and with a growl of _lumos_ a brilliantly bright light formed over his finger. He looked at it in awe for only a moment before he stumbled and the light cut off. I caught him before he fell and set him to the ground.

"That was bloody brilliant." He exclaimed before yawning widely. "Why do I feel so tired from such a simple charm though?"

"That's because you didn't stop the flow after you let it out. A small portion went into the charm but most of it was lost because you couldn't control it. Just another thing to work on."

"Hurrah." He said drolly and I gave him a chuckle.

"Indeed. Eat the rest of the field ration then we should make an appearance at dinner."

He made a face at that but started eating the bar. "Why do we have to do that?"

"For Dumbledore. He wasn't okay with you skipping classes but if you skip all your meals as well he could throw a wrench in our plans."

"Why would he do that?" I shrugged helplessly.

"Any number of reasons and more that I'm not familiar with. The biggest one would probably have to do with saving face with the other schools. After all how would it look if one of their champions is thrown out of his house and ostracized by the rest of the school?"

His brow furrowed in though. "Not good, but what about you then? Wouldn't me having a mentor also look bad to the other schools?"

I made a so-so gesture. "I don't think so as it is within the rules but I don't know the political scene well enough to answer that. I'm certain that people will be searching for any scrap of information about me though." I gave him a wink. "After all can't have the local celebrity be taught by a disreputable sort now can they?"

A light blush spread across his face before he rallied. "Well you did take to Knockturn Alley as one of the first things you did." He gave me a sly look. "I guess I'm being taught by the wrong sort."

I snorted as I waved the comment away. "I was merely broadening your horizons. Think of it as an educational experience and besides, without me you would still have a soul piece stuck in your head." He paled significantly and looked a quite ill at the reminder.

"Yeah." He said quietly. "I don't think I can ever thank you enough for doing that." A bit of anger entered his voice. "I just don't understand how it wasn't found before."

"Well, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get that scar on your forehead?" I knew as soon as I said that I stepped on a landmine. A hurt look entered his eyes and he took a shuddering breath. "Nevermind, you don't have to tell me if it brings you pain." Stupid idiot, you never ask about scars unless the other person volunteers the information. You know this. Why did you ask?

"No," he shook his head. "It's pretty well known." He took another fortifying breath before continuing. "When I was a baby Voldemort set out to kill my family. I don't know why but he killed my parents. I can still hear my mum begging for him to spare me and take her instead. He killed her then attempted to kill me with the Killing Curse." His hand rose to brush at his scar absently. "Somehow the curse rebounded and destroyed him but he survived even with his body destroyed. I guess we know how now." The last part was said bitterly as though he thought himself responsible for Voldemort's continued survival.

I held my tongue for the moment. I could see some glaring holes in the story the main one being how did anyone know what happened if everyone in the room was dead or a baby but that didn't matter for now. "I'm sorry to hear that but at least you truly know your mother loved you if she was willing to sacrifice herself to save you."

"I-I never really thought of it that way." There was a quiet note of bittersweet joy in his voice. "I was always focused on the fact that they were murdered and that the one who did it is still alive."

I opened my mouth to say something but I was distracted by a gout of flames heralding Fawkes' arrival. My henge was back up in an instant as the bird circled overhead before landing on my shoulder. I could feel the chakra shell ripple but it held for now. It surely wouldn't if Fawkes dug his claws into it though. "Hello Fawkes," I reached up and stroked his neck feathers so he would be less tempted to do so. "Why have you joined us?"

He trilled in pleasure before he spoke up. _The bearded one wants you both present for dinner and I wanted to see you again. I think you would make a great pet human being able to understand me and all. What do you say?_ My smile was perfectly polite as I looked at him. "I'll consider it carefully." He let out something close to a whoop of happiness as he launched himself from my shoulder and disappeared in a ball of fire.

As soon as Fawkes was gone my smile faded and I turned to Harry who was still in a happy daze from his song. "So, we're requested to join the rest of the school for dinner. Also would you happen to know what kind of bird Fawkes is?"

Harry shook his head as though to clear it before he stood up. "He's a phoenix. Can you understand him?"

"A bit." I said simply as we began our trek out of the chamber after Harry had gathered all his things. It was mostly silent as we made our way up the pipe and I knew Harry activated his Mage Sight when he reared back as though struck when we were out of the bathroom.

"How can you stand being here when there's so much magic in the air?" He said as he rubbed at his eyes.

"Remember I don't see magic like you do but I will admit it's fraying on my nerves." I also think the castle is playing with me sometimes. The fact that some of the armors waved while the spiritual energy bubbled with laughter was a big hint.

"Oh, can you turn your method off?"

"No." He fell quiet as we continued to his guest room where he placed his things and we continued on our way to dinner. On our way we would run into other students and while they threw looks of scorn towards Harry they looked at me curiously. None of them were brave enough to actually step up and ask me who I was though. Right before we entered what I assumed was the dining hall I stopped Harry and pulled him to the side as I set up a silencing charm around us.

"So I think that Dumbledore's going to make some show about me being here." Which I knew courtesy of a clone hidden outside one of his windows. Had to make sure I could turn up the killing intent if he tried to mess with us in a way that was against the rules. I only had to do it twice more before he desisted for the moment. "Other than that I'll follow your lead in regards to where we sit."

"Where we sit?"

"Yes, are we going to sit with the Gryffindors," he frowned at that part, "Slytherins, Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws? Where you sit will make a statement."

"Is it really that complicated?"

"A bit. Sitting with the Gryffindors means you side with them even after they kicked you out. Hufflepuff means that you're supporting Cedric or trying to steal his glory. Slytherin means you've turned your back completely on Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would be neutral."

"Urk, how do you even know that when you've been with me the whole time?"

I gave him a smile and tapped the side of my nose. "I'm just that good." He pouted as he rolled his eyes incredulously.

"If you don't want to tell me then just say so."

"Tell you what. I'll answer any three questions you have if you win the tournament."

"Really?" I could tell from his tone that he didn't believe me one bit.

"So much disbelief. That hurts." I tapped my heart. "Right here." Of course he would be right. I said that I would answer three questions, not that they would be truthful answers. "Anyways, where are we going to sit?"

Harry bit his lower lip as his eyes shifted from side to side. "Ravenclaw, we'll go to Ravenclaw."

"Alright. Sit at the end seat and I'll sit on the inside. That'll limit the amount of people that can annoy you with questions unless you want to do something different?"

"No. Thank you for that." I nodded and lowered the silencing charm. Let's do this then. As soon as we entered the diner hall the noise level in the room dropped drastically before it resumed in a slightly lower tone. I took everything in as we walked towards the end portion of the Ravenclaw table. The entirety of Gryffindor looked miserable as they cast glances towards Harry while everyone else had varying levels of scorn or hate that they were directing towards him.

We sat down and I saw a few teachers stir at our choice. A stern older looking woman made to rise but then seemed to think better of it and sat down with a miserable air around her. Dumbledore merely twinkled at us as he rose and the noise level cut off completely. "I have a few important announcements that need to be made before dinner can commence. The first and foremost would be that evidence has come to light that shows that the Goblet of Fire has been tampered with to select Harry Potter as an unwitting champion." Murmurs sprung up along the hall but he motioned for silence and they deceased. "The second announcement would be the introduction of Harry's mentor for the tournament, Shiro. Mr. Shiro will be with us for the remainder of the year and I will ask that you give him a warm Hogwarts welcome." I stood up and gave a small wave as they politely clapped. "Thank you for letting me take your valuable time to announce these things and let dinner commence."

As he finished talking food of every variety appeared at the table and people started digging in. All throughout dinner I either deflected personal questions or asked questions of my own to the surrounding Ravenclaws. All in all it was a rather awkward dinner because I couldn't actually eat the meal without dropping the henge which meant that any food I pretended to eat ended up on my head. Or it would have if I hadn't learned the vanishing spell. It was a beginning fifth year spell but I had found that if I absorbed half a years' worth of material per clone and spaced it out a bit the headache was manageable.

All of this meant though was that the majority of the students focus was on me leaving Harry to eat in semi peace even if he'd already eaten the field ration before. I considered the entire thing a draw between Dumbledore and I. He got to show us off to the school just not where he expected us and we had to actually be there.

Almost as soon as it was possible Harry made to leave and I followed along after making some hasty goodbyes to the people sitting near us. I heard a young girl with bushy hair start saying Harry's name as he retreated from the dining room but that only made him go faster. I caught up to him easily enough and the rest of the walk to our rooms was quiet until we actually got to them.

I threw up another silencing charm to make sure no one could listen in before I started talking. "For the rest of the night I want you to meditate."

"Meditate?"

"Yes, meditate and try to move your magic around your body. For example, build it up in your right finger, then your foot and so on. It'll help with your control immensely without actually wasting any magic. Then if you have time go through all your magical textbooks from earlier years and make sure you actually know how to do those spells."

"Okay, but what are you going to be doing?"

"Studying all those books I bought in order to help you with higher year spells." He seemed amendable to that and I wished him good night as I went to my quarters. Surprisingly I didn't find anything that could spy on me. I had pegged Dumbledore as a control freak but I suppose spying on a guest as they slept was a bit too much even for him. Better safe than sorry I pulled out one of my tents and set it up.

The inside was tastefully done with a large open common area that had a table in the center of it along with clothe doorways leading to the other areas. I had a quick perusal to the other areas and found them to be in order so I went to the storage area which was empty for now. It was time to do a physical workout while my clones kept on absorbing more magical skill books for me. At nearly 11 at night I was finished for the day and it was finally time to implement the next phase of my operations.

I created a clone and followed it invisibly to the outside where it changed the current password then went back inside. As for me I had something else to do. I quickly made my way out of the school, making sure my henge was up, and ran for a couple of hours until I considered myself far enough away from the school. Gathering the required amount of chakra I created an empty ID. I needed to know if the man who kidnapped me was telling the truth about the Nibi.

Even before the world completely reformed I knew he was telling the truth. The corrupting feel of the Nibi's chakra was spread throughout the ID yet it wasn't fully formed yet. It felt more akin to something gathering energy or pulling itself back together. 'Damn. I'll need to start creating a containment seal strong enough to hold it if I ever want to use my ID without fear.'

I took one last glance around before I switched to the zombie ID. If I was going to seal the Nibi I wanted to be a lot stronger than I currently was. As the new ID formed I held back a frown. It felt different than before and I wasn't talking about the Nibi's chakra that I could still feel. A zombie stumbled out of the bushes yet upon seeing me it didn't let out a high pitched scream. Instead all it did was quietly moan and raise its arms as it walked towards me.

'What was going on?' I thought as I dispatched it with ease. It didn't give me any experience at all and only one measly knut. 'Did the kinds of zombies change because it's a different world?' I sent out my senses and got a response about a 100 meters out. One of the zombies felt like wizards do except I knew it was dead. I couldn't help the frown on my face as I went towards it and sure enough the zombie was dressed in robes as it clutched a wand in its hand.

"Damnit," I muttered as I retreated from my position to near where I had started after I killed the zombie wizard. It had only given me 1 experience point and a sickle. Biting back a sigh I exited the ID.

As I entered the clearing there was a group of grey robed people muttering over where I entered my ID. An odd device swung towards me and whistled causing them to look towards me. "He's the one who did this. Capture him!"

I was already considering killing them all for simply discovering this but that cinched it. With a burst of speed I ran towards them only to stop 5 meters away as, to my senses, a glowing blue dome sprung up around them. Without knowing what it did I was wary enough to not smash into it. Turning on processing speed the world slowed down around me as I studied it and casually dodged the spell fire coming at me.

It would seem that the dome is the equivalent of a one way sticky trap. Anything that touches it would be trapped at their opponent's mercy. "Vampire," one of them slowly shouted as I studied the magic dome to try to find a way to break it. Now that's just rude. Orochimaru might be unnaturally pale, have snake like eyes and a taste for the melodramatic but he was in no way a vampire. A burst of light as bright as the noon day sun came from one of them and I squinted my eyes.

Ah, I had it. The dome doesn't cover anything below ground. I sunk into the ground and burst forth right in the center of their formation. It was no contest now as I simply used my superior speed to decapitate four of them and knock out the other two before they could react. I kept two alive for now because I need to know who I was dealing with.

From there it was simply a job to strip them all of everything and dispose of the 4 bodies. Then I took the remaining man and woman away from the fight as the area burst into flames. That should keep people away long enough for the magical signatures to fade and if they used magic to put out the flames their signature would cover mine up.

I spent the next hour running and making sure that no one was following me. When I was as sure as I could be about that I made a cave and prepared my two prisoners which meant cutting muscles so they couldn't run, sealing their magic and silencing the area so no sound got out. When I was ready I woke them up.

They were understandably terrified as they realized their position, naked and hanging from the ceiling by their arms, yet they didn't make a sound. Which, admittedly, was my fault as I had silenced them for the moment as I took out a coin. "Here's how this is going to work. I'm going to flip this coin after you choose either heads or tails. The person that loses will not enjoy it as I ask the winner questions."

I removed the silencing charm on both of them and the woman was the first to break the silence. "Why are you doing this?"

"You were trying to capture me so I captured you two. Heads or tails?" She flinched away as my hand moved towards her but didn't answer my question. "If you don't answer within the next 10 seconds you'll be the one tortured as I ask your companion the questions." Tears started to form in her eyes as I began a count down.

Right as I reached one she blurted out tails and I flipped the coin. It landed on tails and I could see the hidden relief in her eyes as I turned to the man. Time for some answers. Three hours later and I had everything I wanted to know and a bit more. The woman had completely broken and revealed everything she knew. I disposed of their corpses and then started making my way back to Hogwarts. If I timed it right I should get back right before breakfast time. I would keep an eye out for any more of these so called Unspeakables in the future.

 **Age: 10 years - 4 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 31 - 3% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,750/1,750**

 **Chakra: 97,287/97,287**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 180(234)**

 **VIT: 175**

 **END: 167**

 **DEX: 189(208)**

 **INT: 200(214)**

 **WIS: 150(160)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 18**

 **Money: 921,402 ryo/ 15,276 galleons**

 **Charms Mastery(Passive) LVL 1 – 56%**

 **The unique subset of spells classified as charms. As your mastery rises the cost and control over charms improves.**

 **Decreases cost by 0.1%**

 **Increases control** **by 1%**

 **Transfiguration Mastery(Passive) LVL 1 – 5%**

 **The unique subset of spells classified as transfiguration. As your mastery rises the cost and control over transfiguration improves.**

 **Decreases cost by 0.1%**

 **Increases control** **by 1%**

 **Dark Arts Mastery(Passive) LVL 1 – 7%**

 **The unique subset of spells classified as dark art including hexes, jinxes and curses. As your mastery rises the cost and control over dark arts improves.**

 **Decreases cost by 0.1%**

 **Increases control** **by 1%**


	35. Our Observer

I made it back to the castle just a bit after dawn and it was just as easy to get back into the castle as it was to leave it. Sure there were wards that would have kept me out for a while but they weren't active at the moment. I wasn't sure if this was because of the visiting schools or if it was because of something else but the wards were very basic at the moment and therefore easy to circumnavigate.

I made a clone then immediately popped it alerting my clone in the guest room that I was here and it was time to switch. From there it was only a matter of timing and as my clone walked towards the lake in workout clothes I switched with it. Then I took a lap or two around the lake which was painfully boring as it was limited to a fast civilian run.

Oh well, at least it gave me time to go over everything that I've learned so far. My studies had taken me up to a complete Hogwarts education, at least on the wand waving side, and I had to marvel on how utterly ridiculous that statement sounded to me. The power of absorbing skills through books is nothing to be scoffed at even if the skills are all at low levels for now. Honestly though most of the stuff was completely useless to me in combat. Almost all the spells, except the ones that were invisible, were obvious and I could literally run to a target faster than my spells. The memory of casting a tickling hex and then deflecting the same hex with a _protego_ 10 meters away came to mind. The only really useful things were charms for day to day convenience and transfiguration as distractions during a fight.

Regardless there would probably be more useful things later like a book on apparition and mind magic. I had seen those books but held off on them for now just to have a solid foundation of what wizards and witches could do with no additional schooling. As I ran I saw someone watching me from the prow of the ship in the lake and I sent them a friendly wave causing them to hesitantly wave back.

Dismissing them as a concern my mind turned to the Unspeakables that I had encountered. Apparently the device that had shrieked at me was called a Divining Rod, no connection to water divining rods, which tracked trans-dimensional magic. They had been alerted to my presence when I first arrived but luckily enough Hogwarts, and the surrounding area, were rich enough in wild magic that it diffused the signal making it impossible to accurately track. All they knew was that the source of the disturbance had originated to the North.

Then I had gone and played with dimensions far to the South and they had sent out a team to investigate. Unfortunately they had found me and that was the end for them. I had even found out that they had found dimensional travelers before. The woman hadn't known exactly what happened to them after they were pumped full of drugs and truth serum but I had an idea. I couldn't blame them for doing it either. They had actually had a demon incursion back in the 1800s when one mad witch had been able to breach the barriers between realities into a hell dimension. Sounded like a bit of a mess but the department might draw some parallels after their team failed to report back. I finished my laps around the lake and started walking back to the castle.

Then there had been the things that the Unspeakables had studied like time, love, death and even prophecy. It certainly sounded like a place to visit before I left just to snag a few trinkets. I saw that a few of the early birds were up and about as I walked back to my room. Some of the older females even sent appraising glances my way. I wonder how they would react if I dropped my henge which was currently showing an older version of myself. Probably badly, but it would be funny when they realized they were checking out a 10 year old.

I allowed my thoughts to wander as I got back to my room and had a quick shower before I threw on a change of clothes. On my way back out I created a clone to keep on absorbing new material as I snagged a book on basic runes. Just like seals it would seem that runes were something that I couldn't just absorb which suited me just fine. After all, if everything is easy then life gets boring rather quickly.

I stepped outside into the corridor and pulled out a stick, transfigured to look like a wand, while giving it a little wave. A comfy armchair appeared and I plopped down as I opened my book. Now for a bit of light reading while I waited for Harry to get his lazy ass up. I found myself absorbed in my reading material and I read it slowly to make sure I was getting everything down to a tee. In the world of seals it's the little things that kill you and I'm sure runes were similar enough that the same rules applied.

A polite cough from my right brought me out of the fascinating world of runes and I acted startled as though I hadn't heard her coming closer. I looked up to see the teacher who had made to stand when Harry and I sat at the Ravenclaw table wearing an emerald green robe with a prim expression on her face. "Ah, pardon me, I didn't hear you coming. Allow me to introduce myself." I stood up and gave her a slight bow. "My name is Shiro. Might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"My, you are a proper young fellow aren't you?" I just gave her a small smile in the face of her scrutinizing gaze. "My name is Professor McGonagall. I am the Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts." Mm, what a delightful accent. Scottish I think.

"A delight to meet you. I assume you had some purpose greeting me other than just getting to know each other or am I wrong?"

"No, no you are not. Before that though may I know why you were sitting in the corridor reading a book?"

"Of course. I had finished my morning run around the lake, which I must say that you have absolutely gorgeous views around here, and since my charge was still not up I was waiting for him." I gave a helpless shrug. "What can I say though? Teenagers will take any excuse to sleep in."

I saw her lips twitch as though she was refraining from smiling at the last part before they thinned into a line. "Quite. Well, I am here to deliver the message that the Headmaster would like to see you both in his office after breakfast." I tilted my head at that but nodded.

"Did he say what the subject will be about?"

"Something that I found in my search yesterday and other matters." Ah, I see. They still want to try to keep this on the down low even if that's no longer possible. I didn't know what it was about either as I had too much going on last night to keep a clone outside his window and it slipped my mind as I was going over everything I learned in the morning. Can't make that mistake again.

"We'll be there. Will you be attending this meeting as well?"

"Unfortunately not. I have classes directly after breakfast." Her eyes darted between me and Harry's doorway portrait before hardening. "Please take care of Harry. Everything that happened in the last two days was a horrible mistake yet he sought you out. Even if you're just the first person he ran into he still trusts you enough to teach him. Don't betray that or I'll break you." Definitely Scottish.

"I'm his mentor. Why would I ever betray him?" Her eyes narrowed at my non answer but she didn't say anything as she backed away.

"Have a good day Mr. Shiro."

"And you as well Professor McGonagall." She stately walked away and I plopped back down in my chair to get back to reading. About a half hour later the portrait to Harry's room swung open and he blinked rapidly at seeing me sitting in the corridor. I snapped my book shut as I stood up and dismissed the chair with a wave of my hand.

"Good morning Harry." He was still looking a little dazed at my display but I continued on regardless. "Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, um, yeah I did." He rolled his shoulders and did a little stretch. "It was actually the best sleep I've ever had. I wonder if it's because I'm not carrying around an extra burden anymore."

Probably and points to him for talking around the subject and not directly about it. Especially in a hallway. "I would think so." No telling how much influence that bit of soul had even if it was only a passenger and not directly connected to his magical pathways or soul. "Now, let's go get some breakfast and then we have another meeting with the Headmaster." I gave him a crooked smile. "Tut tut, Harry, called to the Headmaster's office twice in two days' time. One would almost think you're a delinquent."

"Hmph, that's just because you're such a bad influence just being near you is enough to get me in trouble." His expression turned serious. "Do you know why he wants to see us?"

"Hmm, something in regards to Gryffindor and probably seeing if you have an observer in mind. The first one I know for certain but the second is an educated guess." We started to wander towards the dining hall as we talked. "Were you able to do everything I asked last night?"

He suddenly looked a bit sheepish. "I tried to meditate but it was a lot harder than it sounded so I did the control exercise you said to do and went over my first year books. Although I don't know how transfiguring a matchstick to a needle will help me."

"It's simply a primer for the later years. Take this for an example." I pulled out my fake wand and conjured a log of wood. I saw his eye catch on the fake wand but he didn't say anything for now. "Conjuration is an advanced subset of transfiguration. Now that you have conjured something you are free to change it to whatever you desire." A wave of the wand and the log turned into a jet black panther that nuzzled against Harry who, after a moments pause, began to scratch it behind its ears. It let out a deep rumble in approval and began to walk alongside us.

"As you can see transfiguration can be quite useful. Of course any animals or living being that you transfigure are not real and obey any commands that you give them. This holds true to animals that you conjure as the _avis_ spell creates a flock of pigeons that obey you." They acted like limited clones almost but I wasn't about to tell him that.

"Brilliant, but…" his eyes darted between the panther and my fake wand. With a smile I handed the fake wand over to him and after a moment a look of understanding came. I gave him a wink as he handed it back before giving the wand a twirl and vanishing the panther. It was getting a bit more attention than necessary if the gasps and screams were any indication.

"Appearances are important and anyone that says otherwise is lying. Even if you're the kindest person on this planet you'll still form an opinion of someone in the first few seconds of meeting them. Whether that is good or bad depends entirely on how you look and how you act."

Harry looked a bit unsure on how to take that advice and I left him to his own thoughts as we entered the dining area. It wasn't completely full yet but the Gryffindors that were here seemed to deflate when Harry and I went towards the Ravenclaw table. I wonder why they would act like that if they were the ones to throw Harry out? I let the question percolate in the back of my mind as I slowly pretended to eat and observe the rest of the room. One of the most glaring things I spotted was the absence of Dumbledore at the head table.

'He must be preparing for the meeting.' I thought as I continued to eat. It was probably nothing good for us then or I'm just being fatalistic and he's just an old man that didn't want to walk down the stairs this morning… Nah, it's probably the first.

We finished our breakfast and we made to leave for Dumbledore's office. Before we could make it there we were ambushed by the frizzy haired girl that called out Harry's name last night. "Harry," she called out as she rushed up behind us. For a moment I thought she was going to grab his arm but at the last second she stopped and bit her lip instead.

"What do you want?" Harry's tone was cold and flat. She flinched at the almost casual dismissal in his voice but rallied.

"Can we talk?" Her gaze went to me and then back to him. "Alone?"

"I don't think we have anything to talk about Granger." She flinched away from him again as he said her name. "If you'll excuse me I have an appointment with the Professor Dumbledore that I need to get to."

Harry turned and walked away without a backward glance as I looked back and forth between them. Granger looked… lost as though she had suddenly found herself adrift at sea and I could see the beginning of tears forming in her eyes. Whatever was the deal between the two it wasn't my problem to fix and with one last glance at her I turned to catch up with Harry. He looked indifferent although I could see the spark of indecision in his eyes.

Sure enough when we had gotten far enough away that Granger couldn't hear us anymore he asked me a question. "Was it right what I just did?"

I mulled the question over for a bit before I answered. "She was one of your ex friends right?" He nodded and I continued. "My adopted brother has a saying that he lives by and it goes like this. 'In this world, those that break the rules are regarded as trash… but be that as it may… Those that disregard their comrades so easily are worse than trash.'"

A conflicted look appeared on Harry's face. "Are you calling both of us trash?"

"Hmm, I don't know all the details but that girl appeared to abandon you in your time of need. That she was seeking you out not a day later means that not everything is as it appears."

His shoulders slumped. "So what I did was wrong?"

"Right or wrong is meaningless. There are only choices and if you feel you can't stand by your choice after you make it then it is the wrong choice for you."

We continued for a bit in silence before Harry spoke again. "I guess I'll go find her after this if that's okay with you?" I glanced over to him looking mulish. Ah, teenage angst at its finest.

"I don't care one way or the other. I'm here to act as your mentor and I'll work around your schedule. If that means less training time because you're patching things up between you and your friend then so be it. As an addendum to making choices when you make a choice commit to it fully or not at all. Giving anything less than your best when you've made your choice means you might have well not made the choice at all."

I let him think things through until we came to the stone gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office. I told it the password I heard yesterday and it moved upwards revealing stairs. With nothing stopping us we went up the stairs, once more going through the identifying ward, and knocked on the door leading to Dumbledore's office. "Harry and Mr. Shiro. Please do come in." His voice drifted out through the door and I held back a snort. More theatrics again to give off more of a semblance of power and all knowing aura if people didn't notice the ward walking up to his office.

I opened the door to see Dumbledore working away at a large stack of paperwork. It would seem that even with magic the joys of bureaucracy were still going strong or, as Minato would call it, the greatest evil ever dreamt up by man. He set his quill in an ink tray as we approached and moved the papers to the side. "Please pardon the mess. Having three different jobs can generate quite a bit of paperwork from time to time." I have no doubt that's true although why he would want three different jobs in his advanced age I don't know.

"Nothing to be worried about. I know how bureaucracies all around the world just love paperwork." He gave a polite chuckle before I continued speaking. "Now Professor McGonagall said you had something to share with us?"

"Ah yes," he turned his gaze to Harry and I was pleased to see that he didn't try to read his mind. It would seem that you can teach an old dog new tricks after all. "Minerva rushed off to get to the bottom of what happened two days ago and found something curious. As soon as she stepped near Gryffindor tower she found her anger being directed at you." I raised an eyebrow at that and Harry seemed to be similarly surprised.

"With a bit of experimentation she found that stepping away from the portrait made her no longer angry towards young Harry here and determined that something was wrong. After collaborating with Professor Babbling, our runes Professor, they found a ward that induces aggression above the Fat Lady's portrait." He looked over his half-moon glasses at Harry. "Specifically it caused aggression towards Harry and anyone that passed through the ward line would have every negative feeling towards Harry enhanced. I suspect you would have been induced to a near rage as well just by being near it."

By now Harry was looking quite sick and I couldn't blame him. This was an obvious ploy to kill or maim him what with a sudden magically binding contract happening out of the blue the other students would think he cheated his way in. Throw in some enhanced aggression and it was a miracle that they merely banished him and not cursed him to death. "Do you suspect that the same person who entered Harry into the tournament had a hand in the aggression wards?"

My question drew Dumbledore's gaze back to me and he nodded. "I believe so although in both cases it would seem that the magical signature is too degraded to be of use." I sat back thoughtfully as I considered this. The amount of people willing or able to do something like this was high and given the lax nature of the wards surrounding the school it made the pool of suspects even larger. I tuned back into the conversation as Dumbledore began to speak again. "In light of this I do hope you can find it in you to forgive your classmates."

I saw a myriad of emotions cross Harry's face before it settled on cautious hope with a little bit of melancholy. "I'll try sir but could I continue to stay where I am for at least this year?"

"You can, however; I would prefer if you attended at least some of your classes if you do so. Isolation from others is never the best when healing wounds." A complicated expression appeared on his face before he nodded. "Wonderful, and now there is simply the matter of an observer for your lesson with Mr. Shiro. Have you decided on anyone?"

Harry fidgeted in his seat for a moment before speaking. "Would, um, Professor Lupin be available?"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair as he seemed to ponder the question. "I'm afraid, however much I would enjoy seeing him again, that dear Remus would be unavailable. With him being outed as a werewolf last semester it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to have him near or in the school."

"But that's not fair!" Harry blurted out before shrinking back in his seat with a blush. "Sorry sir."

Dumbledore waved off the outburst as nothing. "It is entirely fine my dear boy. The Wizengamot is being extremely difficult with their new laws regarding werewolves. I'm trying to enact less stringent measures but, alas, it would seem unlikely that I can repeal the new laws soon. Until then werewolves will be seen as dangerous beasts even though they merely transform once a month."

'That's pretty fucked up and dangerous.' I thought as Dumbledore finished speaking. Taking away people's rights and ability to live without persecution leads to nothing but violence. If Voldemort is still out there he would have a steady supply of new recruits from the disenfranchised werewolf population. I wonder how much this is a planned move for his return or sheer stupidity on the law maker's part. Still it was probably a good thing that Remus couldn't come because I had no idea how a werewolf would react to being near me.

"Regardless," Dumbledore started speaking again and I tuned back in. "Is there anyone else?"

Harry opened and closed his mouth a few time before glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. "No sir." I resisted raising an eyebrow at that. The fact that he only had one person he trusted in the whole wizarding world to observe him is actually kind of sad.

"I see." Dumbledore folded his hands together as he regarded Harry. "In that case, and in light of the coordinated attack on your person, may I suggest having an Auror serve as both an observer and a protector?"

'Oh, you cheeky old fudge packer. What a brilliant play.' I kept my thoughts from showing on my face as I ranted at him. I couldn't say no because then it would seem like I didn't care for Harry's safety or had something to hide yet at the same time having their version of the police monitoring me would keep me in check. What comes next would rely on Harry.

"An Auror?"

"Yes my dear boy. I'm told you had an interest in pursuing that career option and this would give you an opportunity to speak with one of them about their duties amongst other things." Harry looked to me for any hint of what to do but I kept myself completely neutral on the subject. Couldn't have Dumbledore thinking I didn't want an Auror tagging around.

When he saw no help was forthcoming from me he bit his lip and seemed to ponder for a while. Finally he spoke, "I would like that." Dammit.

Dumbledore's face lit up as he won this battle. "Wonderful. I shall have a chat with the head of the DMLE, one Madam Bones, and see that one Auror can be spared from duty. I expect I shall have one within the next day or two."

"Is that all Professor Dumbledore?" Please let this be all. I really don't want to fight anymore battles right now until I can regain some advantage.

"Of course," the bastard's eyes were twinkling madly. "I expect that will be all." He spared a glance towards the large stack of paper work. "If you'll excuse me I have to get back to my work."

"Have a pleasant rest of your day then." I said as I stood up. 'I hope you choke on those lemon drops.' I thought as I smiled politely at him.

"I will and I hope your day is just as enjoyable as mine." My forced smile went away as I turned towards the exit. Harry was silent until we were outside the office and back into the castle proper.

"Can our training be put on hold for a moment? I think I need to go see Hermione." He said it almost sheepishly and there was more than a bit of guilt in his voice as well.

"Go ahead." It would interfere with my schedule that I made for him but it would all work out. Besides I wouldn't stay here forever and having at least more than one person he could trust would be good for him.

"Right." He said and ducked into an empty classroom. Curious I followed behind and saw him pull out a worn piece of paper and his wand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Before my eyes the blank piece of paper began to have ink spread across it to form a map of Hogwarts. A map that had the names of people as they walked along. My eyes instantly darted to where we were but curiously enough I wasn't named on the map. There was simply a pair of inked in feet standing next to Harry.

Harry seemed to notice this as well if his widened eyes and his not so hidden glances my way were any indication. "What a marvelous piece of paper. How does it work?" My voice seemed to startle him and he gave a nervous chuckle.

"Err, I don't really know. It belonged to my father and his friends." I regarded the map as my mind raced. Perhaps it's because I'm using my chakra dampening technique. I let up on the technique and sure enough my name appeared next to Harry. With a nod I ramped it back up to full and my name disappeared again much to Harry's chagrin.

"I see it can detect that someone is there but because I'm holding my chakra back it can't tell my name." It must be tied into the ward scheme somehow. How his father and his friends managed to do that without collapsing the entire thing I don't know. "It's not important though. I thought you were trying to find your friend."

"Oh, right." He blinked heavily and resumed searching the map for Hermione's location. Several minutes later he found her and tapped his wand to the map once more. "Mischief Managed." The map became blank once more and he folded it up before putting it back into his pocket. "Come on. I know where she is."

I followed after Harry until we came to a bathroom where I could hear the steady sound of crying emanating from it. I glanced at him to see he was looking distraught. "Well I'll just wait out here then while you sort this out. I suggest begging on your hands and knees if you want her to forgive you." He gave me a look that screamed coward but I just shrugged and made an invisible clone follow him in as I silenced the room. Trust but verify. If he made any mention of me being from another world then there would be a round of _obliviate_ getting handed out. Mind magic was proving exceptionally useful although I wasn't sure how the Yamanaka's would take me having Legilimency. I took another look at the pop up for it.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Legilimency (Active B rank (200/min(150/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Legilimency** **is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. A person who practices this art is known as a** **Legilimens** **.** **Muggles** **might call this "** **mind-reading** **," but practitioners disdain the term as naive. The opposite of Legilimency is** **Occlumency,** **which may be used to shield one's mind from the invasion and influence of a Legilimens.**

 **Learned Occlumency (Active/Passive) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Occlumency** **is the act of magically closing one's mind against** **Legilimency** **. It is ancient, and has existed since medieval times.** **It can prevent a Legilimens from accessing one's thoughts and feelings, or influencing them. A person who practices this art is known as an** **Occlumens** **.**

Perhaps if I trained Occlumency enough then it wouldn't matter because then the Yamanaka's wouldn't be able to get into my mind unless I allowed them. Although I feel like the influencing part of being an Occlumens is redundant what with Gamer's Mind still being in effect. Eh, redundancy is good. In fact it might even stop whatever was taking my memories but I didn't hold much hope for that.

I took out my book on runes again as I waited for Harry to make up with his friend. I really hope he doesn't expect me to train her as well or some nonsense like that. I'm far too young to have a genin team following me around like lost puppies. Although… no! I snapped out of that line of thinking. A mentorship is fine a team is not. Getting too distracted in the daily lives of the citizens of the multiverse would just slow my progress to get back home down.

About an hour later Harry and Hermione stumbled out of the bathroom looking better than they did before yet I still saw clear evidence of crying on Hermione's face. The rush of memories as my clone popped hit me but I ignored it for now as I focused on the two while I snapped my book shut and stowed it away. "Well, based on the fact that she's not hexing your face off I assume you both made up."

They both blushed before Harry rallied. "Err, yeah we did. Um, I don't think that you've been introduced yet. Hermione this is Shiro my mentor for the tournament and Shiro this is Hermione my friend."

We regarded each other. Myself with calm indifference and her with a searching gaze as though she was trying to pick me apart to learn all my secrets. "Hello Ms. Granger."

She blinked and her intense gaze disappeared. "Oh, um, hello Shiro. How did you two meet?"

"We met at the Quidditch World Cup." I turned to Harry with a smile. "Now that you've made up with your girlfriend I do believe it's time to train." My smile grew wider as they competed to see who had the deepest blush. I think I would have to give the award to Hermione in the end. "Well, come on then. Let's get going Harry."

That seemed to bring him out of his short circuit that his brain seemed to be experiencing but the blush still remained. "Err, actually is it okay if Hermione joins us."

"No," I stated firmly and continued before he had a chance to talk back. "You have the option to skip class while she does not. You are the one entered into a deadly tournament that you need to survive. If she comes and observes us or follows along with my instructions to you I won't mind but I will not directly teach her." Wisely they both held their tongues. If they hadn't I probably would have banned her altogether. "Now, Ms. Granger, I do believe that class is in session at the moment and you are absent."

A horrified look appeared on her face and she paled dramatically before rushing off towards her class. "Oh no, I'll have detention for sure." I heard her screech out as she ran around the corner and I turned back to look at Harry with a raised eyebrow.

"She's not my g-girlfriend." He managed to finally stutter out after she was gone.

"Maybe not but it sure stopped her from asking anymore questions." I laughed at his indignant look and started to walk away. "Now let's get you some workout clothes and we'll begin."

I didn't look back but I heard him start shuffling along behind me so it was fine. The next half hour was spent getting dressed in appropriate clothes and making our way down to the lake where I spent some time showing him how to properly stretch out. "As we run around the lake I want you to set the pace just know that we'll be going around it at least twice. Secondly, I want you to try moving your magic through your body like you did last night while you're running."

"Why?" He grunted out as he bent to touch his toes.

"Regular humans have to gain muscle mass and strength the hard way but people with magic can cheat. As your magic runs through you it will strengthen and repair your body making you stronger faster than normal. I think that if we stick to my schedule you'll be a top tier athlete within 3 to 6 months and getting into the supernatural after a year if your magic reacts the way I think it will." I did the splits and laid flat on the ground but I didn't miss the shiver Harry had when I did that. "That will in turn give you more fuel for you to use your magic making you even stronger." I went into a handstand from my prone position then flipped to my feet.

"Alright let's get going. Set the pace but remember to push yourself." He nodded and we were off around the lake. I only had to prompt him several times to keep his magic flowing around his body and he multitasked admirably. At the end of the run he was gasping for breath and he almost collapsed as we came to a halt after a cool down jog. "Good. Now let's get started on your upper body."

"I always thought I would die from one of Voldemort's schemes not bloody torture." Harry gasped out and I shook my head ruefully.

"It's not torture it's exercise. Now get down on the ground and start doing pushups. I'll even do them with you just remember to keep your magic circulating throughout your body." He groaned but did as I said. We went through the pushups and then through a variety of other exercises until he literally collapsed on the ground.

"I think I died. I can't feel anything anymore." I rolled my eyes as I tossed him a field ration.

"Here, eat this and get some of your energy back." The ration bounced on his chest and with another groan he reached towards it with shaking arms. He made a face as he ate it but dutifully chowed down half of it before putting the rest away for now. I waited for a couple of minutes to let him rest and recover before speaking up again. "Are you ready to learn a bit of magic now?"

He perked up at that and slowly forced himself into an upright position. "Yes."

I smiled at him as I sat down across from him. "I've gone over all 7 years of Hogwarts spell casting and I feel that the first thing I should teach you to do, both with your wand and without, is summoning and banishing. If you perfect these two it is similar to having telekinesis and you can always rearm yourself if you lose your wand."

I pulled out my fake wand and ignored his incredulous expression when I said I've gone over all 7 years of Hogwarts as I conjured a pillow. "Call up your Mage Sight and watch." He did so and I sent the pillow flying away with a _depulso_ before I summoned it back with _accio._ As I grabbed the pillow out of the air I threw it to the side so it was a good distance away from Harry. "Now try summoning it with your wand."

It took him a good five minutes to get both down with his wand but he still yelled whenever he did so. Before we attempted to do this without a wand I wanted to get rid of that habit. "Harry," he turned to me. "Have you ever heard me call out a name of something unless I was teaching you it?"

His face scrunched up as he thought. "No," he said finally and slowly. "I don't believe you have. How are you doing that?"

"Silent casting is part of your 6th year curriculum but I feel you can achieve it earlier. Saying the spell out loud is merely a trick to have your brain associate the word with your magic making the Will and Intent portion of spells easier for younger students. I know you have the Power to cast spells now we just need to ween you off saying the words to sharpen your Will and Intent. For now try whispering and trying something easy like the color change charm you learned in your first year on the pillow."

Harry nodded and his face changed into a look of concentration as he whispered while waving his wand at the pillow. Nothing happened and after a good 10 minutes of nothing happening I suggested that he use his Mage Sight then try whispering. That seemed to do the trick and his next cast was nearly silent. From there I had him work his way through the first three years of curriculum while trying to cast silently. He got the hang of it quickly enough and five hours later we had reviewed everything from his first three years. I'm almost positive he wouldn't have done as well as he was currently if he couldn't see magic but he could so he improved rapidly whenever he could turn on his eyes and a bit slower when he was allowing them to recover.

Throughout Harry's casting I had been intermittently exercising more or casting bits of magic with a focus on transfiguration. I just found the skill too useful to not practice and I got kind of bored watching Harry fly through his curriculum. Before we got back to the summoning and banishing charms I stood up and motioned him to do the same. "I think it's been long enough since your last exercise." I gave him a predatory smile as he paled drastically. "Time to run."

I looked down at Harry as he twitched in the grass after our latest workout. Just for the heck of it I conjured a stick and poked him repeatedly. "Are you still alive?" He didn't do anything other than moan and move his head the tiniest fraction in order to glare at me. "Oh, I see you are." I knelt down next to him and after making sure that no one was nearby healed him up a bit using my mystical palms technique.

As soon as I was done he slowly sat up and started to move his arms and legs in small patterns to work out any lingering pains. "You're a bloody sadist. I don't think I've ever used some of those muscles before." I shrugged unrepentantly.

"I think I'm a quite mentally stable mentor. At least I didn't create lions to nip at your heels to make you go faster or put weights on you. I know other people who trained their mentees that way." I shivered as I recalled the Green Beast of Konoha and his Flames of Youthtm.

"You are a saint amongst men good sir. Men anguish that they aren't a fraction as kind and benevolent as you as the women kiss the very ground you walk on." He said it all in a monotone voice that screamed insincerity.

"Stop. You'll make me blush." I mentally switched tracks. "So that was a taste of what your days will be like for the rest of the year. Of course as you grow stronger the exercises will increase but you frankly surprised me at how fast you're picking up magic. Were you always this good or is this a recent development?"

His hand unconsciously rose to trace his scar. "I was never this good and while my Mage Sight is helping tremendously I can't attribute everything to it." He looked down at his hands and slowly stood. "I think that the parasite was interfering with my learning. I've never been so clear headed before and everything seems to just be clicking together now as though I was blind before." A look of pure loathing appeared on his face. "It seems like everything that is wrong with my life can be traced back to that bastard Voldemort."

"Then when you see him next make him pay." I said simply and Harry blinked in surprise.

"You're not going to say let it go or any other cryptic advice a mentor usually gives?" I snorted and shook my head.

"No, why would I do that? There's a time to give out cryptic advice and a time to speak plainly. From what it sounds like and what I've read Voldemort is gunning to kill you. It would only be polite to return the favor or as the saying goes, 'Those who take a life must be prepared for those who would take theirs.'" Harry turned to the side with a frown on his face but I could practically see his mind turning as he thought about what I said.

I let him think for some time before I nudged him. "You should eat the rest of the field ration now." He made a face but did it anyways before washing out his mouth with some water.

"That is truly awful. Is there any other way I can get the required nutrients without having to eat those things?"

"Maybe, I would have to look into it, but I suspect it would be a potion of some kind." Potions were another thing that I couldn't just absorb the knowledge so I had left them almost completely alone for the moment. It didn't help that any potion knowledge I gained wouldn't translate into anything useful when I went to other universes what with certain ingredients probably not actually existing.

He made a disgruntled face. "Any potion I took would probably taste even worse than the field ration. Merlin I wish potions didn't taste so bad."

"It is what it is." I cast a _tempus_ to see what time it was and then rolled my neck. "Well I think that it's time to head back inside. Diner is in an hour or so and I'm sure you want some time to shower at the very least." I took an exaggerated sniff. "I can smell your stench from all the way over here."

He rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you're not smelling yourself?"

"Nope." I said as I popped the p. "I'm too awesome to smell anything less than divine." I also had a number of small chakra techniques going at all times that made me scentless but it wasn't worth mentioning that to him.

He simply snorted and started walking towards the castle with shaky legs. "Right, and I'm Merlin reborn."

"Oh ye of little faith." I said as I trailed along after him. An evil thought came to my mind and I smiled. "For your disturbing lack of faith I feel the need to remind you of all the stairs we have to climb to get to our rooms."

His foot paused halfway through his step and he nearly fell before he caught his balance. "If there's any higher power listening, please, strike me down now." His tone was very beseeching and after he finished speaking he stood still for a moment before continuing on. "Figures, they never listen when you ask for help."

"Are Gods here real?" I couldn't help but ask. Different universe different rules and all that jazz. It would be unbeneficial not have an open mind when seeing new things. After all in some universes 1 + 1 could be equal to 3 or 11 so the belief in God like figures or actual Gods wasn't all that difficult to imagine.

"What? No, or at least I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity mainly." He seemed to accept that and the rest of the slow walk was spent in silence until we got to our rooms. "See you in a half hour for dinner." Harry only grunted in reply and disappeared into his room. I went into my room as well as my tent, ignoring the clone practicing charms, and took a quick shower. After that I read more about runes before it was time to go to dinner.

Surprisingly enough Harry was waiting for me outside of his room. I completely expected him to collapse on his bed and not get up until tomorrow but it would seem he was made of sterner stuff. "Let's get going then." I said and he just nodded slightly as we made our way to the dining hall.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did, but I suppose so. I am after all your mentor so questions are expected." He gave me a sour look but continued regardless.

"What should I do with the Gryffindors?" I slowed to a halt and turned to face him fully with a raised eyebrow. "Err, what I mean is that they threw me out of the house but I know they were under a spell when they did so. I know I shouldn't be angry at them but…" He trailed off and I nodded.

"But regardless of why they still did so." He looked down as though ashamed and I continued on. "I won't lie and say this is an easy fix but this does provide you an opportunity to find those who would stand by you even under a spell. All you have to do is find out whose names were not on the list of people that expelled you. In addition you could ask them whether they believe your name came out of the Goblet because you cheated. If they do believe it they are, at best, fair weather friends who will abruptly change face as soon as you succeed in the first challenge or fail at something. From there you can categories people into groups; trustworthy, friends, acquaintances, neutral, untrustworthy and finally enemies."

He was silent for a minute before he spoke. "That sounds so… cold putting people into categories like that."

I shrugged. "With how famous you are, don't frown, it's a fact of your life learn to deal with it. You should learn this skill or you'll always be taken advantage of by others. People will approach you with honeyed words or desperate cries of help and if you can't tell what category of person they are you could die."

"So if someone asks for help I have to deny them?"

"Not necessarily, but try to see underneath what's going on. Say, for example, a woman is screaming for help from an alleyway. You run around the corner and see two men pushing her against the wall. What do you do?"

He didn't even hesitate to answer. "I would help her."

"Congratulations, you knocked out the two men with stunners and as soon as your back is turned the woman stabs you with a knife killing you. The entire thing was a scam to draw people in and rob them but the woman panicked when her accomplices were knocked out."

"What? That's… that's not fair. How was I supposed to know she was going to stab me for trying to help her?"

"By observing everything instead of running in without any knowledge. Look at her clothes, the way everyone was acting, if you saved her how does she react? Without information every engagement is a gamble heavily favored towards your opponent."

He was silent as he processed the new information before he turned away and resumed walking towards the dining hall. I didn't know if what I said sunk in and I didn't push it. He would either listen to the advice or not and either way it didn't really affect me. I could see the entrance to the dining hall when I saw Dumbledore standing with a woman in a brown trench coat and, oddly enough, pink hair.

"Ah, hello Harry and Shiro. Might I introduce you to your new protector, Auror Nymphadora Tonks." I watched as she gave him a glare as he introduced her and her hair shifted to a red color before going back to pink. My curiosity was sufficiently peaked when I felt her magic run through her hair to accomplish the change.

"Don't call me my first name, just call me Tonks. It's nice to meet you." I was going to speak but Harry cut me off.

"Err, it's nice to meet you as well. I'm Harry and if you don't mind me asking how did your hair change color?"

Her hair lengthened and she fiddled with it. "I don't mind at all. I'm what's called a metamorphmagus. I can change my body with my magic. I'm great at parties." She smiled as her nose became a pig snout. I smiled back at her, plans already forming.

"Fascinating. My name is Shiro and it is a pleasure to meet you. If you don't mind I would love to talk with you about your ability. For example, does it change you down to a genetic, a physical or merely a cosmetic level?"

"Genetic? What's that?"

"A muggle science that studies DNA. Which is just tiny chains of proteins, acids and other things that each person carry. DNA carries all the genetic information of a person from their hair color to what sex they are."

"Oh," she blinked and then grinned at me. "I don't really know but I know I can change on a physical level at the very least. If you want we can talk about it later."

"I would like that very much."

'I would also like a large sample of your blood for study. Who knows, maybe it's like a bloodline and I could integrate it like the crystal release. It would certainly solve quite a few of my problems if I could physically change into an older or younger version of myself and not have to worry about my henge failing.' My gaze traveled over to Dumbledore as he politely coughed gaining all our attention.

"I do believe it is time for dinner. If you would all follow me." He turned around and walked through the large double doors as we followed behind. Somehow, someway I'm going to get the lovely Miss Tonks' ability.

 **Age: 10 years - 4 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 31 - 3% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,760/1,760**

 **Chakra: 97,287/97,287**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 180(234)**

 **VIT: 176**

 **END: 168**

 **DEX: 189(208)**

 **INT: 200(214)**

 **WIS: 150(160)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 18**

 **Money: 921,402 ryo/ 15,276 galleons**

 **Skill Updates:**

 **Transfiguration 1 - 3**


	36. Fiasco of a First Task

**Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back. I'm sorry that it took so long to get this new chapter out but my faithful computer of 6 years died and it took a while to confirm that and get a new one. So, because it took so long to get out this chapter is a bit longer than the others nearing 14k. Enjoy.**

I followed everyone else into the main dining hall. As we entered I could see the hesitation and indecision well up within Harry. After a moment his shoulders slumped and he made to sit at the end of the Gryffindor table. His decision sparked a wave of whispers around the hall which I turned an ear to as I sat towards the inside of the table while Tonks sat on the side opposite from me. Before I could start plying her with questions about being a metamorphmagus the hall grew quiet as Dumbledore stood at the front of the room for an announcement.

"For those of you who do not know we will have an additional guest here tonight and for the rest of the school year. Some of you may know her as a graduate from Hufflepuff, now a proud new Auror. Please welcome back, Nymphadora Tonks." There was a polite round of applause from the students although Hufflepuff clapped the loudest and longest. Tonks stood up and waved to everyone but I could see the brief scowl on her face as Dumbledore said her first name.

Dumbledore sat back down not deeming the reason Tonks was here important enough, or unwilling, to share why she was here in the first place. My eyes narrowed as I heard people start to guess her purpose here. It ranged from Harry being an up and coming Dark Lord that needed to be reined in to me being a secret Dark wizard trying to corrupt Harry. Not one of the rumors was about the fact that Harry was entered into the tournament against his will. I was forced to reassess the wizarding world from civilians with magic to stupid civilians with magic. I'm sure that opinion would lower as time went on.

Regardless of the wizarding sheep, I really wanted to know more about being a metamorphmagus but I didn't think that the dining table, surrounded by others, was the best place to try to pry her secrets open. I turned back to Tonks in time to see Hermione sit across from Harry and start talking animatedly to him about him missing class and his training. I kept half an ear towards their conversation while I started my own with Tonks. "So Tonks," she perked up from her food. "What made you decide to become an Auror?"

"Oh, that? Well my dad is involved in law so I suppose that's what got me into it in the first place." A thoughtful expression appeared on her face. "Then there's the fact that Auror are supposed to be the best of the best and I wanted to be the best."

I nodded. Wanting to improve oneself was something I could relate to. "Was it difficult to become an Auror?"

She gave an exasperated groan and theatrically slumped onto the table. "Was it ever. To get even be considered you had to have at least 7 Newts with above Exceeds Expectations on all of them. I had to work my arse off because Snape was such a harsh grader but I managed to get an O when I took my potion NEWT. Then when I got into the program I had to train for another 3 years to even be considered an Auror." She straightened to her full height and looked up towards the high table where the teachers were. "In fact my mentor, Alastor Moody, should be a professor for the Dark Arts this year. I don't see him though so maybe he's up in his room." She shrugged it off. "He's pretty paranoid so that wouldn't surprise me what with him shouting Constant Vigilance all the bloody time. What about you? What you do?"

I leaned back as though considering the question. "I do a bit of this and that. Right now I'm doing a bit of teaching." I motioned over to Harry who was looking dead on his feet and mechanically eating a bit of food. "He was quite generous with his payment." I whispered conspiratorially to her.

"This and that, huh?" Tonks sent a searching look my way.

"This and that," I repeated with a small smile, "but I can assure you that it's nothing illegal. I just haven't found a job I truly like enough to stay at it for long periods of time. Maybe when this job is over I'll go into teaching. It seems fun." She held my gaze for a bit longer then nodded congenially.

"I can understand that. Doing a bit of soul searching before you find what you like. Do you have any family?" I smiled widely.

"I do, two younger sisters in fact, what about you?"

"Just me and my parents although I always wanted a younger sibling." She shook herself as though to clear her head and smiled at me. "Do you have any photos of you and your sisters?" I was pretty sure she only asked because Dumbledore was still searching for any hints of my origin but showing a picture of my family wouldn't hurt. I would just have to mention that it was an older photo.

I reached into my robe and withdrew a photo from my eighth birthday party where Karin and Mito were both hugging me while Kushina was resting her chin on the top of my head. Before I handed it over I charmed Karin's eyes from her natural red to Mito's sapphire blue so there wouldn't be any uncomfortable questions asked. "I only have this old photo on me," I said as I handed it over to her. "The one on my left is Mito and the one on my right is Karin. My mom, Kushina, is the one with her chin on my head." I pointed out each of them to her as she cooed at the photo.

"You all look so cute." She glanced up to my hair and back down to the photo. "I thought you dyed your hair or charmed it. Was it always like that? How old were your sisters when this was taken?"

I idly brushed at my white, almost silver, hair. "It's always been like this and they were both 4 when this was taken." I took the photo back from her as I heard a strangled gasp from Harry.

Glancing over I saw him focusing on the photo in my hand and Kushina in particular. "Everything alright Harry?"

He snapped out of his state and shook his head as though to clear it. "Yeah, just saw something that startled me is all. I almost thought it was my mom in the picture for a moment." He let out an awkward laugh as Hermione sent a gaze filled with pity his way. 'Right, he's an orphan.' I thought as I put the picture away.

"Eh, it's an easy enough mistake to make I suppose. Mistaken identity happens all the time." I turned back to Tonks as Harry began to pick at what was left on his plate. "So, I suppose you'll be joining us tomorrow for the lessons I'm giving Harry." She nodded and I continued. "Excellent, make sure you wear something appropriate to run in then and be ready to go by 7am."

I caught Harry's slump when I mentioned running and grinned briefly. I was so glad my body didn't work completely normal when it came to physical activity. It made training so much easier not having to worry about sore muscles in the morning or ever running out of energy. Sure, I could get tired but after a few minutes rest I was fully energized and ready to go again. "Workout clothes?" Tonks questioned me and I nodded.

"Yep. I believe that having balance between a strong mind and a strong body is key to magical growth. Even if I'm wrong," which I was not, "exercise is good for you."

She seemed to ponder that for a bit before giving me a shrug. "Sounds like a plan." After her agreeing to participate in the run the rest of the night before bed was spent making small conversation with Tonks before Harry almost passed out onto his plate. I helped him up and he stumbled off towards his bed, after saying goodnight to Hermione, as both Tonks and I followed along after him. He was barely able to say goodnight to us before the portrait swung shut behind him leaving Tonks and I standing in the hallway.

I turned to leave but Tonks' query stopped me. "Where are you going?" I looked over my shoulder and gave her a smile.

"I was planning to go to the library for a bit and then wander around to get a feel for this place." And maybe find out why Hogwart's energy was trying to direct me somewhere within the building. I had noticed it almost as soon as Harry and I had returned from his first workout and while I was wary about following an unseen thing controlling the energy around me I was curious as to what I would find.

"Oh," she seemed to be trying to decide whether or not to follow me but in the end she simply shrugged. "Do you need a guide? Hogwarts corridors can be a bit difficult to navigate if you're not familiar with them."

I gave her a smile. "Sure, why not?" The question of Hogwart's energy could wait for the moment. If she came along I could ask a few questions about her ability now that we were away from prying ears. "So," I began as I fell into step behind her. "You said that you change on the physical level but how far does that go? I mean could you change your muscle density on a whim, your bone structure, or even your gender?"

She missed a step at the last part and I had to grab onto her arm to keep her from falling. It was a reflex on my part from spending so much time one babysitting duty but I still chided myself for doing so. Putting that much stress on the henge nearly broke it and if it did break I would have had to go on an obliviating spree. "Thanks," she muttered before regarding me with an amused look. "Kind of dove right in with the awkward questions."

I just shrugged. "It was going to bound to happen with an ability like yours. Besides, I could have led off with asking whether you could grow male genitalia and impregnate someone else." I was treated to the amusing sight of her hair turning green and literally curling as she sputtered.

"Merlin, no! I mean, maybe, but- argh!" She shot me a glare as I started laughing. "It's not funny! When you wanted to talk to me about being a metamorphmagus I just thought you'd ask me to change to someone else not ask if I could…" She shivered and then gagged again.

"What gave you that impression? I could care less about what you look like when you have such a fascinating ability. I just wanted to find the limits of your talents."

She shot me an appraising look as we continued walking. "Really? You don't care if I look like this?" She changed into a hunched back hag with boils, warts and loose skin along with ratty hair and diseased looking gums.

"Fascinating." The flow of her magic as she changed led me to believe she was actually destroying her entire body and putting it back together, piece by piece. I started circling her to get a better look. "You lost a good half foot, quite a bit of body mass and since you seem to be missing quite a few teeth that leads me to believe you have control over your bone structure. I wonder if you'd be able to regrow a limb if you lost it?" I mused idly as I stopped in front of her.

"Huh," Tonks changed back into the form she was wearing before. "You're good. Everyone else I've done that to has flinched away from me." I could feel that she was giving me a more thorough search as I seemed to have passed her test.

I raised an eyebrow and waved my hand lazily. "I'm sure most of the people you did that to were just trying to get into your pants. I'm not looking for a girlfriend or a quick fling right now. I just wanted to study your ability although I wouldn't be averse to being a friend." Which reminded me that I would have to test my bodily fluids sometime in the future before I had sex. I didn't want to kill someone accidently.

She let out barking laugh and started walking again. "Yeah, you got the first part right." I could see her looking at me out of the corner of her eye. "I think we could be friends though."

I sent a smile her way as we reached the library. "That's great." I said somewhat distractedly as I took in the sight of thousands and thousands of tomes, scrolls and books stretching out before me. Seeing it through a clone is one thing but actually being here… My hand twitched and I had to clamp down the desire to just start absorbing everything in here.

"Eh hem." The quiet cough drew my attention to a lady sitting behind a desk. She, rather unfortunately, had the look of an underfed vulture with her shriveled face and sunken cheeks. "May I help you?" She asked with a pinched look on her face.

Assuming this to be the head librarian I put a smile on my face and sauntered up to her desk. My attempt at being casual didn't seem to work on her because she simply narrowed her eyes at my approach as her lips pressed together. "Yes. I was wondering if you had any books on differing runes. I'm passingly familiar with Norse but I was wondering if you have anything else?"

"We have books on those." She admitted with a seemingly pained expression on her face as though the idea of allowing me access to the library physically hurt her. "Do you want Egyptian hieroglyphics, Japanese seals, Mayan and Incan scripts or something else?" The opportunity to see if the seals the Japanese used were the same as the ones I did was too tempting to pass up so I asked for those and the Egyptian hieroglyphics. She directed me to the appropriate isle after a rather stern warning not to damage the books in any way or she'd take it out on my hide.

After I had gathered the books, and sadly the seals were not the same, Tonks and I left the library. "So, what now?" She asked.

"Well, I'm going to go put these back in my room and then explore at bit. Do you still want to come along?" She seemed to consider it for a moment before declining which was fine with me. I had already seen enough of her ability to start making some hypothesis' and it would allow me to follow Hogwart's magic. The pull had, not increased, but it was constant and a bit annoying like an itch you just couldn't scratch. I still would have ignored it completely if I had to but I felt no malicious intent at all so an expedition was in order.

I put the books away in my room and then followed the pull of magic. It took me on a winding route all throughout Hogwarts until I found myself standing in front of a tapestry showing a wizard attempting to teach trolls to dance. I looked around for anything else but the pull seemed to disappear into the blank wall across from the tapestry. It must be a hidden room of sorts and I examined every inch of the wall looking for seams or hints of magic. All I could get from the blank stretch of wall was a feeling of potential oddly enough.

I stepped back from the wall with a frown on my face. The pull that brought me here was now no help and I could feel the anticipation within the magic around me but no hint of how to enter the hidden room. My musing was cut off as a suit of armor clanked from around the corner and a moment later it rounded the corner. As it came towards me I backed up but it ignored me and walked past me before turning around as it walked back and forth in front of the blank wall.

My eyes narrowed at the display and as the suit of armor left I began to pace in front of the blank wall. 'So, this is a trigger to open the room but since nothing is happening it must be something more.' I thought as I continued pacing. Midway through a step I froze as a door that hadn't existed a second ago appeared. 'How and why? What changed?'

I let the questions percolate in the back of my head as I approached the door cautiously and studied it with a critical eye for any traps before I opened it a crack. Pure, unbridled, magic power washed over me and I quickly closed the door cutting off the source. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes as I reviewed the feeling. It felt like the magic that surrounded me but far more concentrated. I would go so far as to say it was the source of Hogwart's magic. The magic still didn't carry any hint of ill intent so I opened my eyes and I slipped inside the door.

The first thing I saw inside the room was a large marble pillar that jutted up in the center of the room. Almost immediately I could tell this was the source of the magic and as I cautiously stepped closer to the pillar the density of magic in the air increased. I stopped for a moment and just let all my senses expand to encompass the room fully. The results made me tilt my head to the side. This room was obviously expanded like my tent but it felt like my ID. An area that wasn't completely tethered to reality but a subspace within it. Curious.

"Well," I said to the empty room. "I'm here now. What prompted you to call me here?" There was a pulse from the pillar and I felt a wave of happiness, frustration and hope? I took a moment to try to sort out what that meant before I spoke again. "I assume you want my help then?" There was another pulse which carried a wave of gratitude.

I weighed my options. On one hand having an obviously intelligent and sentient castle in my debt could be useful. On the other hand I had no idea of its intentions or what a magical castle would need help with. I hadn't detected anything that would hint at it having a malicious intent but it could be a trap or a trick. I continued to slowly walk towards the pillar as I considered everything. Now that I was closer I could see the innumerous carvings on its surface and something else that looked like blood. As I got closer I could definitely tell that it was dried blood shaped as runes.

I stopped a couple of feet away from the pillar as I studied it in more detail. "I would assume that you want me to do something about the blood runes that cover you?" This close to the pillar I could feel the steady pulses or magic that emanated from it in my bones like a deep noise. The resulting wave of hate/anger/loathing that exploded out of it after I spoke was answer enough. I steadied myself after and took a closer look at the blood runes.

I wasn't well versed in runes yet but I could definitely see either containment or binding runes, I wasn't quite sure which, all over the pillar. I released a sigh and started to circle the pillar to get a clearer picture of it. The blood runes covered almost every bit of surface area while there were carved runes underneath the blood. With my observation done for now I stopped circling. "I'll be honest with you I don't even know where to begin. While I'm fairly knowledgeable in my own version of runes I know next to nothing about the blood runes covering you and I know that messing with these kinds of things without direction is just asking for trouble."

I paused as I felt a wave of sadness flow from the pillar. "Then there's the fact that what I do know about runes all points to them sealing you. Someone went to great lengths to make sure you couldn't get out and I'm sure they didn't do it without cause." Anger bled out of the pillar but it wasn't directed at me so I didn't react. Soon enough another wave of emotion hit me and this time I felt the despair and resignation from the pillar.

"That being said," I spoke slowly. "I would free you from this prison if I knew how." In my mind the potential benefits outweighed the cons and a centuries old being would probably know many esoteric forms of magic that might even bring me closer to getting home. There was a feeling of joy before I heard a creaking sound to my left.

Where there was once open room a bookshelf and desk now stood. My eyebrows rose from the obvious display of power, at least in this room, and I stared up at the titles on the book spines. Every one of them was on sealing, warding or containment runes with a focus on blood wards. It would seem that the decision to help the being within the pillar was already paying off. Even if I couldn't free whatever was in the pillar the knowledge gained here could prove helpful when I finally faced the Nibi in my ID. I plucked the first book from the shelf and began to read.

It was nearly ten hours later, nearing 6:30, that I stood from the pile of books surrounding me and stretched. "Alright, I need to get going if I want to meet up with Harry and Tonks. I'll be back tomorrow at around the same time." There was another wave of joy and acceptance before I turned myself invisible and left the room that was not a room to make my way towards Harry's sleeping area. I got there about a quarter to 7 and popped a clone to let the clone I sent back last night that it needed to exit my sleeping corridor.

Not a minute later it exited and I swapped myself with the clone seamlessly. Not even 5 minutes later Tonks showed up wearing sensible workout clothes and for some reason boots. I raised an eyebrow at her footwear and she followed my gaze to her feet before looking back up at me with a smile. It was very predatory. "Wotcher. Don't question the boots."

I held out my hands in what I hoped was a placating manner as we settled in to wait for Harry. It was nearly 7 before his portrait opened and he stumbled out looking like death warmed over. I gave him a cheerful grin to which he just grunted as he began to trudge towards the lake so we could start our run. Tonks and I exchanged amused glances at each other as we followed behind. As we walked along Harry became more and more awake until he was alive enough to talk.

"Morning Tonks, Shiro." His voice was still heavy with sleep but it was easy enough to understand him.

"Morning Harry. You were looking a little sleepy there when you got up." He sent me a baleful glare my way before letting out another grunt. "So articulate." I said cheerfully. For some reason he didn't talk to me for the rest of the trip down to the lake so I ended up chatting with Tonks about her work as an Auror. She had only recently graduated from a junior Auror to a full time one so she didn't have too many interesting work stories to tell and from what I could gather she spent most of her time doing paperwork. It always sucks to be the low man on the totem pole.

After stretching out, and giving Harry a reminder to do the same thing as yesterday, we began our run around the lake. As we ran I couldn't help but notice that Tonks didn't seem to be breathing hard at all even as we got towards the end of the run. In fact, I think she changed her musculature into a more suitable fashion just for the run itself. Plans and thoughts raced through my mind as we finished the last bit of the workout and Harry collapsed to the ground again. I ignored him for the moment to turn towards Tonks.

"Would you be willing to help me demonstrate something for Harry?"

"Maybe," she said cautiously. "It depends on what it is."

"Ah, I was wondering if perhaps you and I could duel so we could show Harry what he should aspire to." And if you happen to receive a cut and I just happen to collect some of your blood for study… Well, things can get a bit rough in a spar.

Tonks seemed to consider my request as her eyes flickered back and forth between Harry's prone position and myself. "I suppose so." She mused. "It'll be good practice to keep in top form." She sent a smirk my way. "If you can keep up that is."

"I think you'll find that I am more than adequate in that regard." I told her pretentiously before I sent a smile her way as I turned to Harry. "Did you hear all that Harry?"

He was able to sit up, although not without a fair amount of effort, and looked between Tonks and I. "Yeah. What do you want me to do?"

"Just move a bit away and watch closely." I didn't want to just come out and say use your Mage Sight but he seemed to get the hint as I felt his magic shift as his eyes began to softly glow. I gave him an approving nod as he scrambled out of the way and I turned my focus back to Tonks as I felt the bounded field surround us. If I was sensing this correctly then it would direct any stray bolts of magic into the ground where they would dissipate harmlessly.

I assumed a stance as I drew my fake wand from my pocket. Tonks took a stance as well. "Now Harry," I said since I was technically Harry's mentor and I should teach him. "You can see that each of us has turned slightly to the side. This gives any opponent we might face less of a target. I have chosen a more aggressive stance with my wand arm leading while Tonks seems to have taken a more defensive stance with her wand arm alongside her body." I saw Harry was nodding out of the corner of my eye so I gave a slight bow to Tonks.

"Shall we dance?" Her wicked grin and three bolts of light springing from her wand was her answer. I could admire that. No frivolous talk or warning just sudden violence. Moody must have trained her to fight not spar. As the bolts neared me my fake wand shot forward three times. Each time a small glowing triangle formed at its tip and with three flicks I sent the bolts careening into the ground around me. "That," I continued talking smoothly as though nothing had happened. "Was the skill called _Dueler's Shield._ As you can see it allows me to catch incoming bolts of magic and redirect them. I wouldn't recommend trying to use it to block unfocused magic like fire though." Tonks started sending a barrage of multicolored lights my way and I deflected them all. I even sent the hair loss curse right back at her causing her to dodge the bolt.

As I continued to idly flick away all the incoming bolts of magic I took the time to study how her body was literally flowing like water as she moved. No doubt she was using her talents to change herself mid spar. Time to turn up the intensity a bit to see what she can do if pushed. I stopped strictly defending and shot a blasting hex at the ground in front of me causing a cascade of dirt and stones to fly at her. She conjured a shimmering shield that stopped everything in its tracks but I was already changing the debris into an assortment of animals that attacked her.

"Transfiguration can be useful to attack, defend or distract. If you mix it with regular curses you have a powerful offense." As I was talking I was firing off minor hexes at Tonks while my animals charged. A spark appeared at the end of her wand and grew into a roaring flame that she used to swing at the animals, burning them alive, as she ducked and weaved through my spells. As soon as the last animal died she turned the flames towards me.

I raised a wall of stone between myself and the flames. As soon as the flames dispersed on the wall I sent another blasting curse, aimed at the wall, sending more shrapnel Tonks' way. Through the smoky haze I saw her raise another shimmering shield but not before a rock sliced across her cheek drawing blood. I tracked the rock as it fell through the air and made a note of where it landed as I slightly lowered my wand. "Are you alright? Do you want to stop or continue this?"

Tonks raised a hand to her cheek and irritably wiped at the cut. "I'm fine, but I know when I'm outclassed." She waved her wand in an intricate pattern and the bounded field surrounding us faded away. "Didn't even move his bloody feet. Adequate my arse." I heard her mutter as she began to fix the surrounding area. I don't think I was meant to hear that but the perks of having superior hearing are many.

Glancing at Harry I saw the glow in his eyes fade away and I knew this was my chance. I created a clone that tunneled underground to where the rock that had cut Tonks landed. I had to refrain from smiling as I felt my clone's memories flood into me after its task was completed and helped Tonks clean up the results of our spar. After the area was reasonably cleared up I ambled over towards where Harry was sitting with Tonks walking next to me.

"That was bloody brilliant." Harry blurted out before either of could talk. "You were both moving so fast it looked like a blur."

"Perks of being a metamorphmagus." Tonks piped up and I noticed her sending surreptitious glances my way which I ignored. Yes, I had moved fast during our short spar but nothing supernaturally quick or abnormal merely the upper percentile of what humans could do without magic or chakra.

"Years of training." I said simply and folded my arms in front of me giving the impression of closing the subject for discussion. Tonks either didn't see the gesture or simply ignored it as she questioned me.

"Who trained you how to fight? Even my trainer Moody needed to move around when we fought but you didn't move an inch or even use a shield other than a _Dueler's Shield_ which requires extremely precise timing to get right."

I didn't say anything for a bit before I grudgingly bit out, "my mother trained me along with a family friend." Let them think what they will about that. Harry would assume it was about the war I briefly touched on and Tonks… Well, playing at being perfect only makes people suspicious. Give them something to poke at and they'll focus in on it while ignoring other things.

Thankfully she dropped the subject and we moved on to other things like Harry's training which reminded me that I needed to give Harry his field ration. I reached into my pant pocket and tossed him a bar which he caught easily enough. "What's that?" Tonks asked as Harry started eating it while grimacing the entire time.

"A nutrient bar packed with vitamins. Do you want one?" She nodded and I tossed her one. She didn't even try to hide the fact that she was checking the bar for something as she waved her wand over it and muttered. After a short period she seemed satisfied enough with whatever results she got and took a small bite out of it before making a disgusted face.

"Merlin! These things are vile. How can you eat these Harry?"

Harry just gave a small shrug as he finished choking down half the bar and putting the rest away for later. "It's not so bad." He said quietly to which Tonks just snorted in disagreement and vanished the bar. How rude. I paid good money for that.

I ignored her for now in favor of starting Harry's magic lesson. "So, I assume that you didn't take the time to meditate last night or practice controlling your magic." His sheepish expression said it all but I waved off any excuse he might have. "Even if you're dead tired I want you to practice. Your life might depend on it very soon with this tournament going on." He looked down at the ground so I couldn't see his face but when he looked back up he was determined.

"I will." I searched his face for a moment longer before nodding sharply and conjuring a pillow which I threw a fair distance away.

"Good. Time to work on your wandless summoning and banishing." Tonks perked up at the mention of wandless magic and seemed to take a very keen interest as Harry's weak summoning charm tugged the pillow towards him moving it about a foot. From what I could feel from his energies he was still pouring a massive excess of energy out without shaping it. I'm not sure whether he would ever be able to do complicated charm work without a wand but I know I could have him throwing fireballs by Christmas time if he kept it up. Perhaps sooner if he used his Mage Sight to help him see what he's doing wrong.

I felt Tonks come up behind me and start whispering in my ear. "Wandless magic is kind of advanced for him don't you think?"

"I already taught him how to cast silently for his 1st through 3rd year course work. I believe he can do it." As though Harry wanted to prove me right the pillow flew through the air and hit him in the face making me chuckle as he glared at it. I heard a strangled gasp from behind me but ignored it for the moment. "Good job. Now try banishing it. If you feel tired just rest for a moment and then keep going until you can summon and banish things with no trouble."

Harry's eyes took on a determined glint as he set the pillow down and began to focus. "How could you have taught him so quickly? You've only been with him for what? A day and a half?" Her surprise must have caused her to lose a bit of composure as her voice was loud enough for Harry to glance at us before I motioned for him to continue practicing.

"I would like to say that I'm just that great of a teacher but I can't take all the credit. Harry's an incredibly talented student when he applies himself." He's also cheating like crazy with his new Mage Sight and I'm sure not having an extra soul in his head helps him immensely. Of course, I shouldn't be calling his method cheating when I basically downloaded an entire 7 years' worth of learning in just a couple of days. Just recalling it made my head ache in phantom pain though.

"Still…" she trailed off as I watched the pillow, and a portion of ground, fly away from Harry. The magical exertion seemed to get the best of him though as his entire arm was shaking and he drew deep gasping breaths. It was probably for the best that he was already sitting down or he would have collapsed.

"Yeah." I said quietly. While it might just be me stroking my ego I think I could shape him into something great, for this world, or at least lay the foundations for him to build upon later in life.

The rest of the day was spent teaching Harry some simple control techniques, levitating rocks while spinning them, more magic and another workout in the afternoon. By the time dinner rolled around Harry seemed exhausted again and didn't protest much when Hermione dragged him off towards the Gryffindor common room. I was curious as to what the Gryffindors were planning but after quietly listening to their hushed conversations I could tell they were gathering together to apologize to Harry for their conduct a few days ago.

I sent a clone after him just in case although Tonks trailed after him as well which made sense as it was her job to protect him. Still, I had things to do and after another switch with a clone, who went straight to my bedroom, I went back to the Pillar of Hogwarts for another night of studying. It was later at night when the clone assigned to follow Harry popped giving me its memories of the event.

I have to say he took the Gryffindor's apology with a lukewarm response. Neither jumping for joy nor shouting at them just acceptance. They seemed a bit put out by the lack of a positive response but I have to question what they really expected. They did kick him out of the house even though their actions were influenced by an outside source and even if a person knows that logically, emotionally it would be difficult to reconcile.

Other than that, I split my time between studying the books that Hogwarts had provided me and the blood sample that I had managed to procure from Tonks. Her blood was an absolute joy to study. Her cells seemed to exist in a constant state of flux changing from normal red and white blood cells to stem cells, seeming at random. I have no idea how her body could even function if this was happening all the time but it proved that she could change on a genetic level. I frowned briefly as a random thought hit me. Could Tonks really be classified as a she when her genetic makeup could change to a he? Eh, leave it up for philosophers. I didn't really care enough to try to classify that when I could spend more time trying to replicate her bloodline.

That was how things fell into a pattern. Teach Harry by day. Occasionally spar with Tonks, she said she wanted to keep her skills sharp, and watch Harry be dragged off by Hermione after dinner. I would send a clone after them to watch over them as Tonks tagged along. Usually Hermione pestered Harry for lessons on what he was doing with me or ask questions about me, which he would dance around, and then he would procced to try teaching her with Tonks occasionally chiming in. As for me I studied blood wards, Tonks blood, worked on multiple sealing projects and worked out to keep improving my stats as clones improved my skills. It was a very demanding schedule and while I had had more physically demanding schedules before I don't think there was ever a time where I was working on so many different problems for so long. I vowed to take a nice long vacation as soon as the quest involving Harry was finished and relax. Perhaps somewhere warm by the sea side.

On the second week after I had arrived to this world the routine was broken. I had been informed the day before that on Friday the 13th there would be a Weighing of the Wands ceremony held midafternoon. With that in mind I cut short the morning workout in favor of getting Harry looking presentable for the reporters that would no doubt be there. After a quick shower and changing my henged clothes to resemble fancy robes that I'd seen in Diagon Alley I was ready to go. Tonks had changed back into her Auror gear and Harry… Well, he had his school robes I suppose but his hair was still an untamed mess.

"I don't suppose you've tried to comb your hair at all?" I questioned lightly as we stood outside the entrance to his room. Like I had said before appearances are important and while it would be foolish to try to have him look like some sort of conquering hero it would be nice to not have him look like an uncouth youth that just rolled out of bed.

He scowled at me. "Of course I did it's just like this." Right, I didn't believe that for one second.

I looked over to Tonks for help. Personal and cosmetic charms were something that I hadn't delved into yet as I was going through the more offensive stuff first. "You wouldn't happen to know any cosmetic charms for hair would you?" She bit her lip as her hair shifted colors.

"Not really. I never needed them because, you know, metamorphmagus, but maybe…" she trailed off as her wand snapped into her hand and a cream colored bolt of light hit Harry's hair causing it to lay flat on his head. I was just about to congratulate her on a job well done when Harry's hair sprung up even messier than before. "Huh. That wasn't supposed to happen." She started casting detection spells at Harry's hair while Harry was feeling his hair a bit frantically.

Taking pity on him I conjured a small mirror that I handed to him and he relaxed when he saw his hair was just messier than before. "I don't know what to say." Said Tonks as she shot a turquoise colored spell which slicked back Harry's hair for a moment before it resumed its seemingly natural messy state. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were a partial metamorphmagus but my spells came back negative for that, hmm." She started to absently tap her wand against her leg.

How odd. First Harry has two foreign substances floating around his body, one that should have killed him, a lightning shaped scar that reformed even after I cut out that portion of his skull and now hair that seemed to reject being tamed. A mystery to solve at a later date though. I have far too much on my plate as it is. "While this is fascinating we do have to get going. The ceremony is in just a few minutes and we don't want to be late." My reminder broke them out of their contemplative mood and we set a fast pace towards the chamber where the ceremony was taking place.

As we entered I saw that we were the last people to arrive, champion wise, although a man with a camera and a woman in a sickly green sweater were also in the room. I also noticed that there was a hint of someone else's magic hanging around the room like perfume. It felt like it was meant to enthrall almost but it was currently weak and it wouldn't have affected me anyways. Two things happened almost the moment we entered though. The first was the woman with the green sweater began to advance towards Harry with a hungry look in her eyes as she held up her notepad and the second was the blonde girl's, who was responsible for the magic in the air, pupils shrunk to pinpricks. Her face also took on a more avian look as the enthralling nature of her magic increased tenfold.

Every man in the room, except me, snapped their focus towards the girl as a dazed look entered their eyes. Both Cedric and Krum began to flex their muscles while Harry began to walk towards her before my arm shot out and I pinched him hard enough to break the trance he was under. He shook his head as though to clear it before sending me a thankful look and rubbing at the spot on his arm where I pinched him.

"Stop this at once." Tonks' voice boomed throughout the room. It seemed that was enough for the girl, Fleur, and as she blinked her avian features slowly disappeared as the enthralling magic receded. There appeared a sheepish look on her face as the men came back to their senses.

"I- I apologize. I lost control of myself for a moment." The woman with the green sweater seemed ecstatic as a quill furiously scribbled across her notebook while the men just seemed a bit confused. Fleur blushed almost daintily as she retreated to a corner of the room and seemed to be trying to meditate if her controlled breathing and closed eyes were any indication.

"Well," the woman whose quill was still scribbling across her notebook said as she stepped closer to Harry as she smiled, with her unnaturally white teeth, like a shark that smelled blood. "Hello there Harry Potter. I'm Rita Skeeter, journalist for the Daily Prophet, I would so love an interview and I'm sure my loyal readers would as well. Let's say we step aside for a moment and find out what makes a champion tick."

She reached forward as though to drag Harry off by his arm but was stopped when Tonks grabbed her arm. "Sorry Skeeter, can't let you go running off with my charge." Tonks smiled at her but it didn't reach her eyes.

It wasn't a sneer that formed on Rita's face but it was close. "Miss Tonks, youngest Auror, and a metamorphmagus to boot. I'm sure my readers would be just as happy to see an article on you as the Boy-Who-Lived. Perhaps you would like to give an official statement on why the DMLE felt the need to send one of its Aurors to guard one, Harry Potter."

"You'll have to ask Madam Bones for a quote." Rita gave an exaggerated sniff at Tonks' answer and turned her gaze my way.

"And who do we have here? A completely unknown man brought into the spotlight to teach the world famous Harry Potter. One can't help but be curious as to what you're hiding. Can I get a quote from you?"

I raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Can you specify what you wish me to talk about? You've left it horribly vague."

She tittered, actually tittered. "Oh, of course how rude of me. How about whether you feel qualified to teach?"

I gave an exaggerated shrug. "Harry was the one who sought me out and as long as he desires me to continue teaching him I will. Furthermore, I believe Auror Tonks can verify that my methods are particularly effective and have been a positive influence on Harry." Tonks shot me a glare for putting Rita's crosshairs back on her but before Rita could continue the conversation Dumbledore walked in with three other people.

I recognized the half giant woman as Madame Olympe Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbaton, and one of the men as Igor Karkaroff, headmaster of Durmstrang, along with an older man I didn't recognize. "I see that everyone is present." Dumbledore said congenially.

"Oh, Professor Dumbledore, perhaps you could comment on how Hogwarts gained two champions for this historic event." Rita's said coquettishly as she easily shifted her unwanted attention towards him.

"Ah, Rita, a pleasure as always. I can only say that Harry's unfortunate placement within this tournament is the result of outside forces beyond his control. Now, I believe there needs to be a round on introductions before we can begin. The gentleman beside me, for those who do not know, is Wand Master Ollivander and he will be the one conducting the ceremony today."

Everyone went through a round of introductions until it was my turn. "It is a pleasure to meet you Wand Master Ollivander. My name is Shiro and I will be mentoring Harry Potter for the duration of this tournament." Karkaroff bristled at that and began to insinuate, loudly, that this was just another attempt by the British to cheat their way to victory.

"I can assure you that there is no such plot Igor." Dumbledore cut through his rant, effectively silencing him in the process. "It is entirely within the rules for a tournament champion to select, and receive, a mentor as long as they are not affiliated with the champion's selected school. I myself had to brush the dust off the official rule book to learn of it so I can understand your frustration, but it is entirely misplaced." Was that a dig at me for being headache inducing?

"Still," Karkaroff muttered. "It is unfair that the boy had received two weeks of mentorship while the others haven't. You should have brought this to our attention as soon as you learned of it." If the other headmasters haven't heard of me mentoring Harry then why did Rita know of it? Or perhaps they did know and he's trying to spin this in a negative way.

I felt the need to speak up at that point if only to clear Harry's name of any possible cry of foul play. "Are you really that unconfident about your champion that you would begrudge the two weeks I've spent training Harry when every other champion is three years older than him."

Karkaroff took on an interesting hue consisting of red and purple. It was not a good look for him. "Not at all. I merely meant that it could be seen that Hogwarts is exploiting the rules to your advantage."

I clapped my hands together as my face lit up as though I had just had an epiphany. "I get it. You just don't care about your students at all otherwise you would have read through the rule book like Dumbledore and Madame Maxime did." I ignored his outraged sputtering and the slightest nod from Maxime as I excluded her from my verbal lashing. "After all, only a truly callous man would allow his students to enter into a magical tournament that would strip them of their magic and/or life if they broke the rules and not know something as simple as a mentor being allowed."

Everyone was silent as Karkaroff's mouth opened and closed almost comically as he did his best gold fish impression. It was exceedingly hard to come back from a comment like that and if anyone did take a look at the rule book they would find an entire section on mentors. The only sound was the rapid scratching of Rita's quill on her notebook and I noted the varying looks of shock and dismay on the other champions faces. Good. Maybe they'll actually take this seriously now. The warning about losing your life or magic if you didn't obey the rules was on the first page of the rule book in huge print. "Um, Professor Dumbledore, is Mr. Shiro correct about losing your magic if you don't obey the rules?" Cedric looked exceptionally pale as he spoke.

Dumbledore regarded him without the customary twinkle in his eye as his posture betrayed weariness and how serious he considered the subject. "I'm afraid so my dear boy. I did warn you all to only enter if you were willing to risk life and limb."

"Oh," I could see Cedric shake slightly. "Could- could I have a copy of the rule book?"

"Of course. I shall procure one for you as soon as this ceremony is over." As though Cedric's request was their que both Fleur and Krum clamored for one as well. Although in Krum's case he was more demanding than asking as he scowled at Karkaroff who had seemed to shrink in on himself as though trying to avoid attention. I had no question that I had made an enemy out of him and that he would retaliate but the man seemed a coward to me. If I actually ate the food here I would have been extra careful about poison for the next several months.

The rest of the ceremony went off with far less excitement then the proceeding shit show and I found myself barely paying attention as each champion was called up and their wand examined. I had no interest in it at all although I did notice that from time to time Fleur would send glances my way when she thought I wasn't looking. I'd have to ask Tonks what she was later. My bet was some sort of harpy or siren combo with her magic the way it is and how her features changed to be almost birdlike.

After Ollivander finished examining everyone's wands there was a tedious photo session that I thankfully didn't have to participate in. The photographer, whose name was Bozo, ended up getting enthralled by Fleur's magic again and focusing on her for the most part. The ceremony finally ended and Dumbledore seemed to do us a favor by taking the attention of Rita off us which allowed us to escape her prying questions. I was all too eager to escape this tedium when I found my path blocked by the 12 foot form of Madame Maxime.

"Can I speak you?" She spoke with a French accent as her eyes shifted over towards Tonks and Harry. "Privately." I merely quirked an eyebrow and nodded as I motioned both of my companions to go on ahead without me. They left and I felt the telltale tingle of privacy wards go up around us.

"What can I help you with, Madame Maxime?" Her eyes lit up as I spoke.

"Ah, so you speak French. Good. This will be easier for me to not have to speak in such a barbaric tongue." She said the last part with a playful tone and I rolled my eyes. It would seem the French and British rivalry is still going strong even in the magical world. Although why she commented about me speaking French now and not earlier when I was tearing into Karkaroff I don't know. A quirk of the All-Speak skill perhaps. "Anyways, thank you for taking down Karkaroff a peg or two. I've never liked the man and how a known Death Eater became a headmaster is beyond me."

He was a Death Eater? I suppose that's good to know. "He seemed to be targeting my student and I simply defended him as any good teacher should." My smile might have been a tad predatory. "If the ones attacking simply trip and fall upon their own swords then they shouldn't be so clumsy."

She nodded sharply as her smile matched my own. "A commendable attitude and with a tongue like a fencer's sword instead of a paintbrush. I'll have to keep an eye on the young Potter's progress." She mussed. "Who knows? Maybe you might find an offer of employment at Beauxbaton if he does well enough in the tournament."

I gave her a light bow. "You flatter me Madame Maxime. I shall strive to exceed your expectations."

Her laughter was as loud as one might expect from a woman who was nearly 12 feet tall. "I hope that you do Mr. Shiro as long as Beauxbaton wins and no one dies I care not for this tournament. Now if you'll excuse me I see my wayward charge looking forlornly at us. Do have a pleasant rest of your day." She stopped as though a passing thought had occurred to her. "Oh, and do watch out for Karkaroff in the future. The man has been known to hold a grudge." I felt the privacy wards drop as she finished imparting her warning.

"I shall, and I wish you a pleasant day as well." I said simply as she began to walk towards Fleur who sent me one last backward glance before she fell into step with Madame Maxime. With a roll of my shoulders I set out to find Harry.

I found both Harry and Tonks about 10 minutes later near the library talking quietly. When they saw me approaching they clammed up and Harry waved. "So, what did Madame Maxime want?"

"Hmm, nothing much. She just hinted that I might have a job offer waiting after this tournament is over with." Tonks eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

"Bloody hell. Really?" I let a small smile form on my face as I nodded. "Why?" She backpedaled slightly as the question was said in a slightly rude way. "I mean, what made her give the offer to you?"

"I think she liked the fact that I cut down Karkaroff a bit in front of a reporter." Tonks tilted her head thoughtfully and then conceded the point. "Now, I believe that our morning workout was cut a bit short because of the ceremony so we'll have to go extra-long one as soon as we get changed." Harry's groan was music to my ears as we began to walk towards our bedrooms.

"Oh, and before I forget I have a question for you Tonks. What is Fleur, the Beauxbaton's champion?"

"Her? I'm surprised you didn't recognize it but she's a Veela." That didn't really mean anything to me as I didn't recognize the name but it would seem Harry came through for me.

"What's a Veela?" Harry asked. "And why did my head get so fuzzy when I was near her?" I think he already knew and was just asking for my sake. What a good little minion.

"Veela are a magical race that looks like humans but they always take on the form of beautiful women. Their presence is enchanting to males, and females that swing that way, and when they're angry or emotional enough they change into bird like creatures that throw fire. While they aren't classified as Dark creatures in Britain it's very close because a female child of a Veela is always a Veela. Apparently, it makes inheriting problematic as well because they're more inclined, through their magic, to have female children instead of male children."

Hmm, useful information I suppose. Now if only I knew whether Fleur wanted to fight me or fuck me and whether she would tell anyone else why she went off like that. I tapped my fingers against my leg as I sent a clone to keep an eye on her. I was spreading myself thin doing so but it was necessary.

The next day there was a rather inflammatory article in the Daily Prophet about Headmaster Karkaroff and the "harlot" French Veela that couldn't control herself around such proper English gentlemen. There was also a small article about me being a mysterious individual who nobody had any idea what my intentions were as I tutored Harry Potter. I had a chuckle about that but continued on with my life until 8 days went by and I found myself with Tonks and Harry standing in the crisp air near the lake early in the morning. It was time to show Harry the results of all his hard work. "Ready whenever you are Harry."

He nodded and assumed a stance as he began to cast. I kept track of them until he began to breath heavily and stopped. "145 spells in a row. That's up by 56 from your original 89." His grin was full of satisfaction as he turned towards me although that changed as he scratched the back of his head.

"I was wondering," he paused for a second and then continued. "I've been training a lot and I was wondering if I could have the rest of the day off to go to Hogsmeade?" He held his breath like I was going to berate him for slacking off but I just shrugged and looked over to Tonks who was lounging nearby reading some book that I didn't catch the title of.

"Sure, I don't care if you want the day off and I'm sure Tonks would appreciate doing something other than watching you sweat as you train." Tonks looked up from her book as I said her name.

"What's that about me?"

I gestured at Harry. "Harry here was thinking of taking you out on a date to Hogsmeade for the day." I couldn't see Harry's face right now but I'm sure it's gloriously red if the sputtering is anything to go by. She elegantly arched an eyebrow as she looked back and forth between us and I gave her a wink. I wasn't sure if she'd go along with the prank until she shut her book and sent a coy smile towards Harry. "Well, if a TriWizard champion wants a date with little old me who am I to say no?" As she walked towards us there was a bit more bounce in her step and a lot more sway in her hips.

As she passed me I was finally able to turn to see Harry's expression. He looked like he was going to explode from embarrassment he was so red along with the best deer in the headlights expression I've ever seen. Tonks hooked her arm with his and started dragging him away. "Now you'll have to look presentable for our date. A girl has to have standards after all…" Tonks bubbly voice faded as they grew further away until it was quiet except for the buzz of a beetle's wings next to me.

Without warning my arm snapped out, catching the beetle, and I placed it in a test tube that I withdrew from my pocket which I stoppered once the beetle was inside. "How fortunate," I said to no one in particular. "I was looking for a fresh beetle to finish one of my potions." The beetle, that was not a beetle, froze as I brought the tube up to my face as though to examine it. "Yes, I think you'll do perfectly."

I placed the tube inside a pocket and started to slowly walk towards the castle. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with the lovely Miss Rita Skeeter just yet but I'm sure I could think of something. When I got back to my room I conjured a small glass container that I could put Rita in for the time being and filled it with food and water. As I dumped her in I spoke out loud once more. "This should hold you for now little fella while I gather the rest of the potion ingredients. It could be a while before I can get my hands on the rest but it's not like you can complain." Rita was buzzing around her new prison frantically as I laid a few more spells on the glass so she couldn't escape.

With that done I went to my never used bed and laid down. If Harry was going to take a break then I would as well. Keeping track of everything and being constantly on guard, more than I usually was, for three weeks was mentally exhausting. I created a clone that would wake me if anything happened and then closed my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.

I awoke instantly, as I always did nowadays, to the familiar notice of my recovered health and my clone shaking my foot to wake me. "What?" I asked as I sat up feeling much better.

"The painting is saying Harry is asking to enter." I swung out of bed and reapplied my henge.

"What time is it?"

"Just after midnight." I froze for a moment before I looked at my clone who merely shrugged. I've never slept more than 6 hours after I became a Gamer but I slept for nearly 12 today. "Whatever," I muttered. I could figure it out later. "Make sure Rita can't see or hear anything if we come back into the tent." The clone gave a lazy salute as I walked past and went to the entrance of my bedroom which swung open to reveal an almost maniacal Harry.

"Can I come in?" He said in a rush causing me to raise an eyebrow as I stepped to the side. "Thank you." He quickly darted inside and I followed at a more sedate pace. When I caught up to him he was furiously pacing back and forth like he was trying to wear down the stone beneath his feet. "What's got you in such a mood? Was it your date with Tonks?" I joked trying to lighten him up a bit. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if a rain cloud formed over his head at this rate.

It worked, sort of, as Harry stopped mid step and nearly fell over before he righted himself. "What? Merlin, no! She told me it was a prank to get a reaction out of me when we got far enough away from you." His eyes narrowed at me. "I'll get you back for that somehow." I waved off his pitiful attempt to threaten me and motioned for him to continue. He let out a huge sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

"It was after my trip to Hogsmeade that Hagrid told me to follow him into the Forbidden Forest later tonight. I did and there were dragons there. Dragons! They expect us to fight bloody dragons!" He flopped onto a chair, his energy spent, as he turned to me. "You can help me right? Come up with some plan?"

"We have three days until the first task," I said slowly. "I'm sure we can come up with something before then." The naked relief on his face was almost palpable. "The first thing you should do is go to sleep." I quickly continued before he could speak. "I don't know the first thing about dragons and I would need to read a few books before I could come up with an idea but don't worry. If I can get through 7 years of Hogwarts material and learn it in just a few days, just learning about dragons will be nothing."

Harry's mouth opened and closed a few times before he spoke. "How did you do that anyways? It shouldn't have been possible."

I smiled and tapped the side of my nose. "It's a secret but if you win the tournament you can ask again as one of your three questions."

Silence fell between us as he started to fidget. "Do you really think I can make it through this much less win it?"

I gave him my fullest smile. "I do and I'll make sure you survive this tournament even if I have to interfere." It wasn't like I was actually bound by the rules of this tournament whereas there existed a faint connection between the champions and the Goblet. "Now, try to get a good nights rest and we'll come up with something tomorrow with Tonks."

He breathed out a deep sigh and nodded. "I'll try but I don't think I'll succeed." I gave him a pat on the back as I walked him to his bedroom and as the painting closed behind him I sent a clone back towards the library as I slipped off towards the Forbidden Forrest. Dragons were mythical beings that seemed to be prevalent in all forms of fantasy back in my fist life. Perhaps these ones would be intelligent enough to hold a conversation and be reasoned with.

It didn't take me long to find the dragons within the forest. All I had to do was follow the smell of smoke and the faint roars of the dragons. When I got close enough to actually see them I saw four separate dragons; a scarlet one, a green one, a blue one and a mean looking black one. All of them were in one large pit with bars separating them from each other and they each seemed to be huddled around their own clutch of eggs. Thankfully I could hear them complaining to each other instead of just mindless roars of beasts. There didn't seem to be any handlers in sight so I dropped down in the middle of the pit out of the reach of all four of them and dropped my invisibility.

All four of them froze before I spoke. "Hello there. It's a wonderful night tonight isn't it?"

 _A crunchy one speaks._ The black dragon in front of me growled out as she seemed to recover from her shock. I'll call her Blackie for now but I'm not sure how well this was going to go if they called me crunchy all the time.

 _Perhaps._ Redie hissed. _It doesn't smell of our wardens but if it comes close enough it can taste my flame and provide a snack._ My polite smile didn't falter but it was a close thing.

"I'd rather not end up as a snack. Do you have any idea of why you are here?" The dragons fell silent except for the slight thumps of their tails and the scratching of their claws on the stone.

 _It speaks and understands, yet is not dragon._ Greenie roared. _Unnatural._ The other three roared their agreement and my smile turned into a frown. I was hoping to come to a deal with them to put on a show when they faced Harry but not harm him. That hope seemed to be fading fast.

"Before you make any hasty decisions I would like you to know that I've come to make a deal." I had barely finished speaking before four separate gouts of flames covered the area where I had been standing. From my new position crouched on the lip of the pits edge, after my quick body flicker, as I stared coldly down at the dragons as they searched for me. "So be it." Four heads jerk towards my position but I was already gone. Time to hit the library to find out how to best kill a dragon.

Morning found Tonks, Harry and myself sequestered in an unused classroom filled with a number of book about dragons. Four separate ones were opened and laid out to a specific page. In each of the four books there was information on the Chinese Fireball, Hungarian Horntail, Swedish Short-Snout and Welsh Green respectively. Sitting behind me I had a large chalkboard with strengths and weaknesses of each type of dragon. "So, anyone have any plans they want to share with the class today after seeing everything laid out before them?"

They were both silent for a moment before Tonks spoke. "Bloody hell. The task involves dragons and you two learned about it last night at midnight. When the hell did you set all this up? Did you even sleep?"

I waved it off. "Last night and sleep is overrated. Please keep the discussion focused on beating these over grown lizards from now on." The two of them shared a glance before Harry spoke up.

"Well, why don't you go first since you set this all up."

My fingers started beating a rhythm on the desk as I closed my eyes momentarily. "My first reaction to this if I had to fight one would be to transfigure something to either close around its mouth or block its airway and then proceed to a safe distance. It doesn't matter how big or how deadly something is if it can't breathe then it'll die."

By the end of it both of them were looking at me oddly and I didn't know why. My plan was perfectly reasonable. Whatever. The next three days were spent in a rush as we came up with plan after plan to deal with each of the dragons. Hermione even joined in after the first day and oddly enough Moody gave Harry the somewhat cryptic advice to play to his strengths. Tonks seemed a bit pissed off at that which I would be too if my mentor of three years basically ignored me for the better part of a month only to curtly say hello before leaving again.

Regardless the fateful day was here and the Quidditch pitch had been revamped into seating for the event. I found myself standing in the champions tent with Harry and the rest of the champions as they each prepared themselves. Cedric was pacing back and forth, Krum was simply sitting and meditating, Fleur was staring haughtily ahead while occasionally sneaking glances at me and as for Harry. "I think I'm going to be sick." He whispered to me. To be fair he did look a bit green so I carefully patted him on his back.

"Relax. Take a deep breath, hold it, and let it out. Breathe in, breathe out, you are more than capable of doing this. Breathe in, breathe out, you've grown stronger and now it's time to prove that to both yourself and those sitting in the audience." As I was talking I could see him calm slightly although the panic was still there waiting for him to have a moment of weakness before it would pounce.

Before I could continue a rather short stumpy man entered then tent and cleared his throat. "Sorry, but champions and officials only from this point. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." I gave Harry's shoulder one last squeeze before I exited the tent and made my way up to where Tonks and Hermione were waiting with a seat saved for me in the first row. There was only time for a quick hello before the booming of a cannon announced the start of the TriWizard tournament.

Cedric stepped from the champions tent looking decidedly nervous as the Swedish Short-Snout growled irritably from all the noise. Ludo Bagman started to announce things but I tuned him out as I watched Cedric complete. He took a moment to center himself but then he began to transfigure the surrounding stones into a variety of animals before he disillusioned himself. The strategy seemed to work well enough and he procured the golden egg but not before taking some fire to his face as his dragon somehow caught wind of him even if he was invisible. Probably forgot to erase his scent or silence his footsteps, the amateur.

There was a short intermission as the dragon handlers brought out the next dragon, a Common Welsh Green, before Fleur stepped onto the field. Almost as soon as she did so she began to sing. I felt the enthralling nature of her magic expand and twist until it became soporific sending most of the audience, and the dragon, to sleep. She continued singing until she had retrieved the golden egg but stopped too soon and had to run away with the hem of her robe on fire.

Krum was next and he didn't seem to bother with subtlety as he sent _Conjunctivitis_ curse after curse to blind the Chinese Fireball. I had to listen to the dragon wail in agony, confusion and pain as, in her blindness, she crushed half of her clutch of eggs. There was a smattering of applause as she was led away and the final dragon was brought out.

'Of course, the youngest champion had to face the biggest, meanest dragon of the four.' I thought as the Hungarian Horntail was chained down and began to claw at the ground in agitation. Harry entered the field looking absolutely tiny compared to the massive beast and did something I applauded him for. He tried to summon the golden egg. Rather unfortunately it didn't work but then it was on to the main plan we had come up with.

As I had said before dragons, while magically huge fire breathing terrors, were simply overgrown lizards at heart and like most lizards they were cold blooded despite being able to breath fire. An odd evolutionary trait for sure but one that Harry was exploiting ruthlessly as he cast freezing charm after freezing charm around the dragon. He also mixed it up with an _aguamenti_ charm and then froze the water solid. It took a bit of time, about 10 minutes, before the dragon's eyes began to droop and it laid down with a bit of a shiver as it curled up.

5 minutes after that the dragon looked catatonic and Harry cautiously approached the nest. When it didn't respond at all he darted in and grabbed the golden eggs. As he was scurrying away the dragon's eyes cracked open and she growled. _Egg stealer! You stink of the magic of the unnatural one. Burn!_ I stood up, as did most of the crowd, when a blast of flame exited the dragon's mouth.

I needn't have worried as Harry saw the danger and transfigured a stone wall between him and the flames. The act of defiance enraged the dragon and she lunged forward as though to gobble Harry up. I watched without much concern as the chain would bring her up shortly before she could reach Harry which was probably why my eyes widened in shock as the chain grew taut for perhaps half a second before it broke like wet tissue paper. Between one second and the next, as it set in that the dragon was free, and the horror began to dawn amongst the crowd, I stepped onto the edge of the stands.

"Sit!" My magically enhanced voice boomed out across the stadium. The dragon's sharp teeth were nearing Harry when my voice reached her and her head swiveled towards me. _Unnatural one! Come and feel the taste of my flames!_ She roared her challenge towards me and I responded to her challenge.

I stepped off the 50 foot balcony, looking for all the world like I was committing suicide, yet I walked through the air like I was on solid ground as I let the entirety of my chakra flow around me creating a visible blue glow to surround me. I felt people behind me begin to faint from the pressure of my chakra pushing down on them but I paid them no mind as I strolled through the air, drawing ever closer to the dragon. Harry, being a sensible lad, had retreated to the relative safety of the champion's tent when he saw that the dragon was distracted by my little light show.

"I said sit!" Now that I was a bit farther away from other people I pushed more power out making me look like I was wreathed in blue flames. "Or I shall make you." My voice was cold and devoid of any emotion yet carried all the threat of a naked sword resting against your neck. The dragon backed up slightly and hissed up at me before it seemed to regain its spine and a pillar of flame shot up at me.

Perhaps luckily the stadium was near the lake so there was plenty of moisture in the air for what I planned to do. From an outside perceptive it must have been like I didn't do anything as a huge watery dragon appeared next to me and rushed towards the incoming flames but I had just made the hand signs for it too fast for them to see. The watery projectile, although weaker than normal without being formed from a large water source, still crashed through the dragon's flames and hammered down on its head. There was a loud thudding sound as its head was almost buried in the earth and I let my jutsu fade as I felt the dragon fall unconscious.

With that done I reapplied my chakra dampening technique and took a look at my chakra total. When I saw that I had used up a bit more than I quarter I had to bite back a sigh. While it was useful to intimidate people or in this case to catch something's attention I would normally never pump out chakra like that in a real fight. It was far too taxing to be practical. I slowly turned and made as though I was walking down a set of stairs while my chakra strings gently lowered me.

I really hadn't wanted to do that but I hadn't seen any other alternative other than Harry dying or me showing how fast I could actually move. Trying to summon him wouldn't have been fast enough and the dragon would have snatched him out of the air. The only acceptable solution had been to gain the dragon's attention and to do that I had to be flashy. Ugh, Saiko would put me on D rank missions and start retraining me from the ground up if she ever saw what I did. The thought of just leaving resurfaced but I didn't think that was a real option since the moment I arrived in this world. The Gamer system had taken a soft approach by providing me with incentives to stay, ie the quest about Harry, and I didn't want to find out it's hard approach or the repercussions of failing the quest. I was, perhaps not trapped, but here to stay for the moment.

My eyes roved over the stands taking in the large portion that was unconscious because they were too close to me and the silence as every eye followed my slow walk. Yes, there would be repercussions from this but I would weather the storm that was coming.

 **Age: 10 years - 4 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 31 - 5% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,760/1,760**

 **Chakra: 98,192/98,192**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 180(234)**

 **VIT: 176**

 **END: 168**

 **DEX: 190(209)**

 **INT: 202(216)**

 **WIS: 155(165)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 18**

 **Money: 921,402 ryo/ 15,276 galleons**

 **Skills changed:**

 **Charms Mastery 1 – 8**

 **Transfiguration Mastery 3 – 8**

 **Dark Arts Mastery 1 – 8**

 **Occlumency 1 - 5**


	37. Wizarding World's Reaction

**Author's Note: As a reviewer pointed out to me that as Shiro is studying Runes he should get a Rune mastery skill or something along those lines. I've decided that it was slightly redundant to have one with Fuinjutsu Foundations so I've just made a note of Norse Runes being another language he can read and write.**

 **Also, a big thank you to AndreyKl for their contribution to the story. They wrote a review, more like a short chapter, that I found interesting enough to include in the chapter. Their portion is the Tonks' interlude and you can find the original version in the reviews if you wish.**

As soon as my feet touched the ground pandemonium began to rein in the stands as it settled in just what had happened to the collective witches and wizards. There was a fair bit of screaming but mostly yelling as everyone tried to be heard over the person standing next to them making it so there was no intelligible sounds coming from the crowd, just a loud wall of noise. I irritably dampened my hearing even further so everything became a faint buzz and walked towards the champion's tent to check on Harry. I was reasonably sure he was fine but better safe than sorry.

I walked into the sight of an older witch fussing over a slightly red Harry. "Honestly, Madam Pomfrey, I'm fine. The flames never touched me."

"Tch, I'll be the judge of whether you're fine or not and seeing as you look like a lobster I'd say they came close enough. Honestly, what were the tournament officials thinking having you fight dragons of all things. It's like they thought this tournament wasn't dangerous enough already and needed to make it even deadlier."

Near the end of her rant Harry had seen me standing near the door flap and given me a small wave with a huge smile. "Shiro! Thank you for what you did. I don't know what set the dragon off but you saved me." That would have been my fault, even if it was unintentional. Sorry, I'll make it up to you somehow. It's also admirable that you didn't even flinch when you saw me even after that display. Maybe it was because he'd already seen how powerful I was with his Mage Sight.

I tried to wave it off even though I would probably have to jump through quite a few hoops after this. "You were doing just fine on your own before that chain snapped."

I noticed that Madam Pomfrey shivered as she looked at me but straightened as the universal expression of doctors and nurses who wouldn't tolerate anyone's bullshit took over. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave Mr. Shiro. Trained Healers or patients only." I quirked an eyebrow at her but it wasn't worth getting into a fight over so in just gave her a nod and turned to leave.

Right before I did I had one last thing to say to Harry. "I'll probably see you after the points are given out. I think I'm going to go hide from the reporters for now though." I'm almost positive at least one of them managed to snap a few shots while I subdued the dragon and by tomorrow my face would probably be on the front page. The noise level jumped back up as I exited the dampening wards of the champions tent and I could see people begin to wake up from their knocked-out state. Time to make myself scarce for a bit.

~Interlude~ Tonks

I woke up feeling groggy, with a pounding headache, like I went on a bender with a case of Ogden's Firewhisky, but I didn't think that was likely. Once was more than enough to put me off the stuff for a good long while. I squinted at the bright light and the shouting that was going on around me. It sounded panicked which wasn't good at all. With what felt like a monumental amount of will I sat up and opened my eyes fully as I took a cautious look around.

What I saw didn't make much sense to me. Almost everyone around me, and a good ways away from me, was slumped over as though unconscious and the dragon that Harry had been up against was out for the count as well if the massive depression in the ground its head made hadn't killed it. I looked around some more and didn't see Shiro anywhere. Where was he? Wait, Shiro!

Everything came back in a flash. I remembered seeing the dragon's chain break and feeling horrified then, suddenly, Shiro was standing on the edge of the stadium. I hadn't even seen him move and he had commanded the dragon to sit like a disobedient dog. The odd thing was it had actually stopped its attack to look at him and there was an all-pervasive pressure that had pressed down on me. It had felt like I was drowning in air and the last thing I saw as my vision blackened was some sort of blue light surrounding Shiro as he stepped forward. I had tried to stop him but it was like my body was weighed down and I couldn't move. I quickly leaned over the side of the stadium completely expecting to see his mangled body down below and let out a sigh of relief when I didn't see it.

The sounds of people moaning drew me from my thoughts and made me focus back to the here and now. People needed my help and as an Auror it was my duty to help them. I briefly touched my wand to my throat so that my voice would boom out and started to try to direct the mob of people.

Several hours later I was sore and tired as I sat in front of Professor Dumbledore. The process of waking everyone up in a semi coordinated fashion without anyone being hurt and the chaos afterwards had drained me. I wanted nothing more than to take a nice long bath then curl up to read a book before falling asleep. Instead, it looked like he was getting ready to interrogate me as he started putting up silencing charms and darkening the windows. I thought that I had prepared myself but I was utterly wrong as the kind grandfatherly figure transformed and I felt a weight similar to the one I experienced earlier today. I tried to do my best to not to shrink into the seat. I tried and utterly failed.

Before me, almost towering over me, was Albus Dumbledore. Not the kind and grandfatherly Dumbledore, but The Mage that had fought Grindelwald and the one that Voldemort feared. Now I was facing such a Dumbledore, and an angry one at that. Now all I could do was feel like a little girl and try to shrink away from the legend before me. What was left of my will was only enough to not curl up or pass out right then and there.

"Tonks." I knew right then and there this was going to be a serious talk. Dumbledore never used a person's last name. "I understand that I'm not your superior, nor you are willing to talk about your friend behind his back, but I will be blunt with you, Tonks. Some time ago a man come into the castle giving the impression of a muggle. Indeed, someone that had even less magic than a muggle as his magical presence was weak to the point of not triggering a good chunk of the wards. He even came without a wand I must add! Then in the discourse between him and myself he gives an impression of a nice young man with a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Any and all background investigations I launch turn up blank, which is truly surprising in this day and age. Now, over the next week I learn that the wards will sometimes not detect him where he actually is but somewhere else entirely and that he can seemingly hide from them, revealing or hiding his presence, at will. In addition, it would seem that he actually has a wand on him that nothing seems to be able to detect and performs magical feats in public that require a monstrous amount of power. To top it all off it seems that he is outright ignored by tracking or divination spells." Dumbledore took a small pause as if to emphasis his words.

"And now this! He intimidated a dragon, of all things, with sheer magical power alone, performed something, presumably a conjuration, motionlessly and wandlessly, that was strong enough to douse dragon fire and knock a dragon unconscious. On top of that he did this while walking on air as if it was solid ground! All of this happened and after three weeks of his company the only thing you can say to me about him during our chats is that he's a nice guy?" The pressure lifted slightly and I was able to somehow master a bit of power to voice my opinion.

"But he is." I protested. He'd been nothing but courteous towards me except for that first day when he questioned me about my ability. Sure, it had been embarrassing but then he passed my morphing test by so much it was off the scale and when he said he wanted to be my friend he meant it. There hadn't been a single attempt to try to turn that into more than friendship as I first expected when he said that.

"He is far more than simply a nice guy." He nearly shouted before he drew back to compose himself. "I suppose I will have to voice my reasons for my distrust more clearly then. First, his stealth skills are extremely high. Moody has lost sight of him on more than one occasion even with his enchanted eye. He has told me that Shiro simply vanishes into thin air as he watches. Second, wards to him are nonexistent, do you understand the ramifications of that? He literally registers as less than a ghost to Hogwart's wards. Third, even his wand isn't detected by the wards as they only detect him doing magic, which is also the only time he registers on most of the wards at all. Fourth, house elves won't go into his room. I've seen them break down sobbing when I ask them to clean his room. Fifth, there is absolutely no background on him anywhere that I could find even with all my connections in the ICW. Finally, Karkaroff is this close to being fired as headmaster." Dumbledore's pointer finger and thumb were almost touching. "Even though he is an admitted Death Eater Karkaroff has held the title of headmaster of Durmstrang for 5 years with an almost unassailable position. Then, after just one little talk, Shiro has crumbled away years of goodwill and political favors that Karkaroff had. Now, do you know of any professions that require such collection of skills?

"Um... no?" Yes, my brain supplied, Unspeakables.

"Spies and Assassins, Tonks. Spies and Assassins. I met a number of them during the war against Grindelwald and the similarities are flashing before me more and more each day."

"What?! But... That doesn't add up! Why would he be here then?"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to get to the bottom of and why I brought you here. So? Any ideas? Any tiny details that stick out in your mind?"

'His training,' my mind supplies. 'He didn't want to talk about his training.' "He couldn't be a spy. If what you're saying is true he's just too powerful."

"You forget that he is Japanese and they have a bit different outlook on things. They hold their duty to the Emperor very seriously and if the Emperor demanded that Shiro become an assassin then he would do so."

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" I said angrily. "I think you're rushing to conclusions. Let's at least try to guess why he might lower himself to teaching Harry bloody Potter first if he's an assassin? Maybe everything is far simpler and you're simply overreacting."

He eyed me somewhat grimly. "Well it is certainly admirable the amount of trust you have for Shiro I have a duty to the children within these walls. He has shown to be a verifiable threat and, while I hate to admit it, I do not think I could stop him if he wanted to kill someone."

"Shiro wouldn't do that." Even to my ears that felt weak. While I hadn't seen it people had said that when he spoke to the dragon that they had felt afraid for their lives. Then there was his avoidance most things from his past life. "He says he's teaching because Harry paid him a lot, but with his power he could probably get far better paying jobs so why teach?" Damn, now I found myself starting to doubt him. "It might be for fame." I admitted after a moment but found myself refuting it. "But with his power it would be easy to gain fame in a number of ways. Besides, why would he do so in foreign country?"

I almost desperately tried to think of reasons not to doubt him. "Maybe he was looking for connections?" But I don't see him associating with anybody besides Harry, Hermione and myself. So, a miss again. "Harry might have caught Shiro's interest as a promising student, and Harry definitely is, but Shiro doesn't show that much interest in teaching even if he does it well. Hmm, Shiro is here to learn?" I latched onto that. "He checked out all those books from the library on the first day I saw him and more every day." Now I definitely sounded desperate.

"And he did, yet you've clearly seen his level first hand when you duel with him. He doesn't need to study and the books he's checked out are very generic. He would be better off buying specialized books from… less reputable sources. And with that I think we just voiced the most common options, the less common ones and those that make even less sense."

"He can't be a spy." I still clung to that thought. "Why send one into school? What could he gain? Besides, why take such a complex route? With the TriWizard tournament going on he could have placed himself as some kind of minor official, a hired guard for somebody or maybe even a reporter from different country. Something, anything, would be less inconspicuous then training Harry."

"Well, I do agree that there is nothing I could conceive of that a spy would find valuable here and that there are far less conspicuous ways to do so if he truly wanted to spy on someone. With this in mind, I can only conclude that he is an assassin with a tricky target that decided to hide in the light to draw them out."

"But a tricky assassination task also doesn't make sense. If he's truly as powerful as you say he could waltz in, off the target and waltz out. He could do that while barely meeting any resistance or immediately suppressing it. Hell! We saw today that just flaring his magic brought even strong wizards to their knees and that was across the stadium. Everyone near him fainted."

Silence fell between us and the only sound was the soft warbling of Fawkes. Normally that would cheer me up but right now it didn't seem to be doing much. After a long pause Dumbledore began to speak again. "Alas, somebody did drag young Harry into this tournament. Somebody set up a situation where Harry was lucky to only be thrown from his dorm. Then it was suspicious how quickly, one could almost say how lucky, that Harry found a strong mentor. He was gone for less than half a day before he came back with Shiro. Then the chain holding the dragon back snapped like a twig. I've already checked and it was indeed tampered with yet Shiro stepped up almost instantly, before even I could react, and managed to save Harry therefore reinforcing the bond between them."

I had nothing to say to that. Somebody did cause those things to happen and the timing was suspicious. "I see that you still aren't convinced. Perhaps if…"

"What if he's a target?" I blurted out without conscious thought.

Dumbledore appeared baffled by my remark. "Excuse me, but what do you mean by that?"

"What if he showed such power at a young age?" I said slowly as I tried to work out what I wanted to say. "What if his skills are a necessity, not to work, but to survive? What if his skills are a necessity to survive against assassins?"

"I must say again you that it is admirable the amount of trust you place in him." He sat back and slowly stroked his beard as a thoughtful expression on his face. "And an interesting theory as well. I haven't considered such a possibility yet. A child born with too much power in an influential family would be prone to assassination attempts from their enemies and the best way to hide such child is for it to never exist. He would have been almost like young Harry in that regard as he would have been hidden away. It would explain some oddities. In fact, quite a few of them. So, a possibility yes, yet one we hardly can check." Dumbledore paused for a moment as though lost in his thoughts. When he resumed his voice was heavy with regret.

"Think about this my way for a moment. What if he is an assassin with the task to murder Harry at his greatest? Or if his task is to eliminate all of the champions during the last task mere moments from their prize? What should I do? What if he kills other children or champions in the processes? You can't be sure that he won't and I am unconfident in my skill to stop Mr. Shiro if he does prove a threat. So, with a heavy heart I must insist, if only for security of children, that you give me every memory you have of him for review. Please do this for me, no, for the Greater Good." Dumbledore silently pushed an empty pensieve towards me as he finished speaking. There was a brief, but heavy, internal debate but in the end logic and duty won out and I placed my wand to my head as I recalled my first memories with Shiro.

~Interlude End~

I had merely gone far enough away that no one would see me turn invisible. Then I had made my way back to the stadium and stuck to the side of it so I could get an idea of how people were going to react without being swarmed by everyone. The conclusion I arrived to was mixed. Yes, there were some people loudly calling for me to be thrown in prison but just as many, if not more, seemed to have been enthralled by my show of power. Throughout it all I could hear Tonks' voice over the bedlam directing people to help those that I had accidently knocked unconscious.

It took a while but the organizers for the tournament brought some semblance of order back for long enough to give the final scores for everyone. Krum came in first with 40 points, followed by Harry with 36, then Cedric with 35 and finally Fleur at 32. I thought the scores were completely disproportioned to what each person actually did even with Karkaroff being totally biased and giving Harry a 0 and Krum a 10. Fleur had obviously pulled off the most complex magic to retrieve the egg successfully while Krum had only shot one spell repeatedly. Perhaps it's because of her nature as a Veela that they scored her so low?

Eh, whatever, it's not my problem to try to solve racism and perhaps sexism as well. For now, while the dragon handlers are busy, I want to check on that chain. It broke far too easily to be normal. I made my way over to it but I didn't even have to look for very long or all that hard to find evidence of tampering. The runic script in Norse was quite visible and I only needed a moment to parcel out what it was meant to do.

The main function of it was to shatter the chain, of course, but there was a portion that connected to a trigger switch that someone could hold in their hand. I couldn't get a read on the magical signature at all which is completely normal, at least with my experience in seals, but highly frustrating. It was unfortunate but the magical signature fades very quickly as runes, and seals, need very little power to activate. If I had checked immediately after I subdued the dragon I might have caught the barest whisper of a signature but my signature might have overwhelmed it even if I did. While it was frustrating it is what it is and complaining about it wouldn't solve anything.

I rubbed at my forehead as I left the chain and began to trail after Harry, as he was escorted by a large number of Gryffindors, up to the castle. They dragged him to their common room for a celebration of some sort and I left them to it. Going by Harry's expression he wished he could skip it but he was far too polite to simply leave. Sucks to be him I guess.

I made my way to my room to await what I knew to be the inevitable summons from the Dumbledore. The hours trickled past and still no word came from Dumbledore or anyone else for that matter. I did sense a steady trickle of people stop near the portrait leading into my room but no one asked to see me. Even Harry only stood outside for a moment before he went into his room. I could excuse him not asking to see me though as it was nearly 1 am when he did so.

It was nearing 6 in the morning when the painting called out to tell me someone was at the door. I meandered out and saw Snape waiting there with a dour look on his face. "The headmaster requests your presence in his office for an urgent meeting."

"I suppose I'll make my way there then. Is the password still the same?"

"No, it has changed to black licorice." I nodded congenially and swept past him. He had quite a good poker face but I could tell I unnerved him and he wanted nothing to do with me. That's fine. I came here to learn not make friends with everyone. Thankfully nobody seemed to be up yet so I didn't have to face people staring at me as I walked through the corridors until I came to the gargoyle guarding the Dumbledore's office. I gave it the password and walked up the stairs to knock on the door. I couldn't feel anyone else in the room except for Dumbledore and Fawkes, which I took as a good sign.

As I entered his office, after he had told me to come in, the first thing I saw was his desk. I suppose it would be more accurate as to say I saw where his desk used to be as not an inch of it was visible under the mounds of letters that formed disorganized piles that spilled over to the surrounding area. With a sinking heart I closed the door and moved closer to where I could see Dumbledore's hat sticking out from behind the mounds of paper. "This wouldn't happen to be your correspondence day would it?" I asked weakly.

There was a muffled chuckle from behind the paper stacks before Dumbledore stood up. "I'm afraid, my dear boy, that it is not." His eyes were tinkling madly and I swore his smile would put the devil to shame. "No, you see owls are apparently having quite a hard time finding you so all your correspondents are being sent to Hogwarts and, as headmaster, it falls to me to see to Hogwarts mail." He paused as several owls swooped in and dropped off more letters causing one stack to tumble to the ground. "I like my desk." He said suddenly as he seemed to completely change the subject. "It is a very nice desk, pure mahogany you know, and the best part about it is the fact that I can use it."

He snapped out his death stick as two glowing red letters entered his office causing them to turn to ash. "I would normally have the house elves take all your correspondents to your room but seeing as they break down crying whenever I ask I seem to have to take matters into my own hands." He flicked his wand and a leather satchel came flying over to him as he began muttering spells at it. The process took several minutes and was punctuated by more owls swooping in to drop off more letters. When he finally finished he tapped his wand on the satchel and opened it wide as all the letters streamed into it, cleaning his desk of paper. Another owl flew in and as it dropped its letter it flew straight into the satchel which caused Dumbledore to smile as he sat back down and ran his hands along his clean desk.

"Now that the mail problem is dealt with, at least on my end, would you mind answering a few questions from a curious old man?" And now we get down to the heart of the matter. I tore my eyes away from the horror that awaited me in the inconspicuous satchel and focused on Dumbledore.

"I wouldn't mind answering a few questions if I can."

"Ah, wonderful, I have a list somewhere," he reached down into one of his drawers and drew out a long parchment. "Here it is. I put this little list together after several high ranking officials in the Ministry kept pestering me for answers and I found myself unable to answer them." He cleared his throat and began to read. "I suppose the first one would be why are you teaching Harry Potter?"

I leaned back in my chair as I regarded him. "I feel like we've already been over this before. He asked me to teach him and I said yes. The fact that he is paying me quite well to do so might also have something to do with it."

"Yes, well, it is always a good thing to recap and make sure. That was my question actually but the next was most of the people who talked to me. How did you become so powerful?"

"Training." I said succinctly as I stared him right in his eyes daring him to try to read my mind. He declined.

"Would you be able to expound on that at all?"

"I won't and can't." There was a pause as he began to hum thoughtfully.

"Are you training Harry the same way you were trained?" I tilted my head as I considered the question. Hmm, it might be prudent to say yes just to make it seem like the indirect question was a loophole in a seal that bound me.

"A very watered-down version, yes." His eyes light up as I began to lead him down the route I wanted him to take. Now if only he could cooperate.

"Why are you training him like that?"

"Forgive me, but I'll answer that question with a question of my own. Do you know what a phylactery is?" Time to gamble a bit.

"I'm sorry the term is not familiar to me."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "That's fine. It means a receptacle for a soul that has been torn from a body." He had an excellent poker mask but the slightest hitch in his breath betrayed his knowledge of the subject. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the portion of Harry's skull. I had intended to study it but if I could get Dumbledore on my side then I would consider it a fair trade. Harry's skull piece flew through the air and landed on his desk with a wet plop.

He stared down at the bloody mess on his desk for a moment before comprehension began to dawn and he jolted to his feet with a hardened look on his face as he clutched his death stick. "What have you done to Harry Potter?" His voice was cold and calculating as the grandfatherly figure was ripped away to reveal a battle tested warrior.

"So you did know about Voldemort's soul fragment stuck in Harry's head." I murmured loud enough for him to hear. His only response was to tighten his grip on his wand as his hands turned white. "You'll be pleased to know that I removed, and destroyed, the piece of Voldemort's soul." I paused to let the full import of what I was about to say hit him. "Nearly three weeks ago when I first met Harry."

He blinked and then blinked again as the warrior receded for the moment. "I'm sorry, could you say that again?"

"I removed it from Harry three weeks ago after I became his mentor." My words were like a physical blow and he collapsed into his chair. He didn't look capable of speaking for several moments before he seemed to draw himself together.

"How? How did you do so without killing the boy?"

"Simple really, the soul was stuck between his scar and his skull so I simply removed the portion around it and had him drink a skelegrow potion after the operation. Then it was an even simpler process to acquire the means to destroy the soul fragment. I even let Harry do the honors as I found it poetic that he would destroy that which kept the man who murdered his family alive."

Silence fell between us before it was broken by Dumbledore chuckling. It quickly evolved into full blown belly aching laughter that went on for quite some time before he was able to regain composure of himself. "Mr. Shiro, I have searched tirelessly for 13 long years on any information on how to remove a horcrux from a living container without killing the container to no avail. To hear that it was that simple boggles my mind and shows me that, perhaps, I am getting too old for my many positions if I cannot think outside the box anymore. Ah well," he said dismissively, "if it is not too presumptuous I would ask that you provide your memory of the event."

I had no idea how to do that and I didn't want to reveal that fact. "I'm sorry to say that I can't do that although you are free to ask Harry for his memory regarding the event." He nodded congenially and let it drop.

"I assume your target is Voldemort then?" What the fuck? Where did that idea come from?

I let a confused expression form on my face as my thoughts began to race. "My target? Whatever do you mean?"

"Have you not been ordered to kill Voldemort once and for all?" A perplexed expression formed on his face. How to play this out? I suppose just getting him on my side is good enough for now. That he believes that I'm some sort of assassin after Voldemort's head was, not good, but workable. This is probably what his discussion with Tonks was about so there would be at least one contingency if he disappeared and I wouldn't put it past him to have more that I didn't know about. If he knew Legilimency then he probably knew Occlumency as well so obliviating his suspicions of me probably wouldn't work and I didn't know him well enough to kill and impersonate him.

"I, good sir, am no assassin for hire. I am merely a teacher that takes the protection of my charge quite seriously." I stood abruptly. "If you wish to throw baseless accusations at me I will have to wish you a good day." I had no doubt that such a feeble excuse would hold up to any scrutiny and indeed it would almost certainly confirm his suspicions that my target was indeed Voldemort or that I was indeed an assassin. While the development was outside my expectations it was not an unworkable one although I had to wonder how he had cottoned onto the fact that I was indeed an assassin, amongst other things.

I turned and promptly started walking out of his office but his voice stopped me. "I do believe you are forgetting something." I turned slightly and caught the leather satchel that was floating towards me. "There are, after all, quite a few letters that it would behoove you to respond to and a great deal more that you need to respond to if you want to avoid complications down the road."

I started to cry mentally. Dumbledore really is the devil if he could dump so much paperwork onto someone else with such a cheerful expression on his face. I was hoping that he would forget if I stormed out of his office. "Fawkes," I said suddenly, startling him. "Would you like to come and try to cheer me up as I work through the evil that is paperwork?"

 _Would there be berries if I go with you?_

"Yes, there would be." He launched himself from his perch and gracefully landed on my shoulder. _Faster pet human. I demand my weight in berries._ Ha, take that old man. You might have fostered the greatest evil ever known onto my shoulders but I'm taking your phoenix. Now if only I could get him to stop calling me a pet. "What kind of berries would you like?" I asked as I closed the door behind me, catching one last glance at Dumbledore's befuddled expression. _There's more than one kind!?_

Several hours later found Fawkes and I sitting at a low table. Every now and then Fawkes would sample one of the many different kinds of berries laid out in neat rows as he warbled a happy tune. I, on the other hand, was surrounded by letters and I had just politely refused a marriage that would have seen the girl, all of 12 years old, no better than my sex slave. All I had to do was name my firstborn son as heir of their family line and allow him to be raised with their family values which probably meant that he would be taken from me on some pretense. I finished enclosing the refusal in an envelope as 6 more owls swooped in and dropped off even more letters. Almost absently I burned the red one before it could start yelling at me.

'Perhaps if I made a clone and henged it into a girl I could announce that she was my fiancée and stop all these stupid marriage proposals.' I almost slapped myself as the thought came into my head. The idea of clone sex had long been spoken in hushed whispers amongst the ninja community. It was always introduced as merely having heard about it from a friend of a friend's brother's cousin's thrice removed weird uncle, otherwise known as Jiraiya, but the question remained the same. Was it masturbation or sex if a clone of yourself was involved?

I looked up as the door to my lair opened and Tonks and Harry walked in. "Hey Shiro, I got your note… Bloody hell are you alright?"

"What?"

He frantically gestured at my face. "You're crying tears of blood mate."

I conjured a handkerchief and dabbed at my cheeks before vanishing the mess. "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you." I said solemnly as I pulled another letter towards me. I absently dabbed at my cheeks again as I began to read it.

They stood there in stunned silence for a moment before Harry spoke. "Are you crying tears of blood because you're doing paperwork?" The was a note of incredulousness in his voice. The poor naïve fool. One day he would understand and on that day I would laugh and laugh at his misery.

"Yes," I said solemnly once more. "The battle against the root of all that is evil in the world is an endless one. I would rather face another dragon than continue doing this for one more second but, alas, I must." I had to do it personally as well. Any clone I summoned took one look at the mounds of paper and dispelled itself. Curse my subconscious mind.

I felt the tenseness that had been coiled within Tonks' energy ever since she had visited Dumbledore's office last night loosen slightly as she let out something between a giggle and a snort. "Have you seen the headlines about you yet?" I set aside the letter for a moment as I regarded her.

"No," I said slowly. "What are they saying about me?"

"See for yourself." She tossed a rolled up newspaper my way which I caught easily enough and unfolded it to see the sight of the dragon cowering beneath me as what looked like flames flickered around me. They had even given me the title of the Azure Warrior and I quickly scanned the rest of the article before setting it aside for the moment. Thankfully the tone of the article had been rather neutral, leaning towards positive, all things considered as it hadn't condemned me as some sort of Dark Lord come to enslave everyone but rather a teacher defending his charge. It might have had a mention or two of those measures being excessive but nothing too horrendous.

I came out of my thoughts and quickly leaned across the desk to catch Harry's arm before he could touch a letter. "I wouldn't do that if I was you. That one has a nasty compulsion on it to open it and then some sort of cutting curse. I can only assume that when your blood spills on the page it puts some sort of contract into effect." He jerked his hand back and I caught Tonks eyeing the rather large stack of unopened letters that all contained some sort of curse or poison. I would have to look into getting Harry some way to either resist or detect mind altering magic so he could break out of it. That's twice now that I've had to do it for him.

"Are all those letters like that?" Harry asked as a combination of guilt, shame and worry shone through his eyes. I would have snorted that he thought he was responsible for someone deliberately trying to kill him and for me having to interfere but it was nice to have someone care. That and I think it would have horribly hurt his feelings if I laughed at him. He already looked like a miserable puppy that was just kicked for God sake.

"Just some. Most of them are marriage contracts, betrothals, vaguely threatening letters, invitations to events and official forms from the Ministry. There was even one from the dragon handlers saying that I should be ashamed of hurting the poor little dragon's feelings after it tried to eat you." There was a weak round of chuckles as I reached down and pulled out a large envelope that I was saving for Harry. "There were also these." I tossed the envelope towards Harry who caught it as he gave me a questioning look but I just motioned for him to open it.

He did so and it was glorious seeming the way he froze solid and all the blood in his body rushed towards his face. Tonks even stopped her diagnostics on the cursed letters as she noticed him and ambled over to see what he was looking at. As soon as she did she let out a low whistle which made Harry jerk as though he was electrocuted. "She's certainly a flexible witch. Both legs behind her head and is that thing supposed to be a dildo? Damn, that thing is massive and," her eyebrows nearly rose to her hairline, "that's a bloody impressive control over her gag reflex. That thing must be touching her stomach."

Harry had finally overcome his paralysis and quickly shoved the photo back into the envelope and closed it tightly. I noted that he kept it rather close to his chest and didn't throw it away though. "W-Why would you give me something like this?" He sputtered out as I grinned at him.

"Isn't this the thing every teenage boy wants?" I asked in a faux innocent voice as I waggled my eyebrows at him.

"N-No! I mean," he stuttered and tried to defend himself as Tonks gave him a knowing look with a wry smile on her face. "Excuse me, I have to go do something very important now." The last part was said in a rush, almost a babble really, as he ran out of the room still clutching the envelope. As the door slammed shut behind him Tonks turned to me with a quirked eyebrow.

"I'm not really sure how to feel about what just happened. On one hand I want to congratulate you on the prank, brilliant job by the way, and on the other hand you just gave a teenager pictures of naked witches."

"I did," I admitted freely. "But he could have thrown them away or given them back to me." Sorry Harry. I hope my gift doesn't get you in a lot of trouble.

She pursed her lips as she seemed to think about it. In the end she just gave an ambivalent shrug. "Just don't do it again and we won't have a problem."

I had no problem agreeing to that and nodded as I decided to switch the topic. "I wanted to say how sorry I am about what happened yesterday." She turned away slightly but I could tell she was listening closely. "When the chain holding the dragon back broke I knew I needed to do something and the only thing I could think of that would work was to gain its attention fast." I gave her a wry smile to which she didn't react to. "I have to keep a tight grip on my power usually just so I can be near other people but I didn't want the incident of yesterday fester between us so, once again, I apologize."

Her energy unwound even further as she slowly nodded. "It's okay. You did what you had to in order to save Harry." As she finished speaking I couldn't help but pity her and Harry slightly. They were like tiny minnows that were stuck in between the three large fish that circled them. While I didn't know exactly what Dumbledore told her up in his office yesterday I had certainly felt her fear as he had flared his power. Then there was the third party who kept trying to kill Harry. I was relatively certain that it was Voldemort, or at least one of his agents.

"That's great. I'd hate to lose a friend over that." I smiled at her and while she did smile back it still contained a hint of caution. "Now, since you are an officer of the law I feel I should mention two things. First of all, would you be so kind as to take the letters that are cursed to your department and try to find out who sent them? The one on the bottom would have skinned me alive and I would like to see the person who sent such a thing behind bars."

Her expression hardened at that. "I'll make sure that the letters get sent to the DMLE." She paused as another large batch of owls flew into the room and dropped off more letters. I couldn't hide the slumping of my shoulders and her snicker at my depression was not appreciated. "What was the second thing?"

"Oh, right." I straightened up and looked her in the eye. "Since you're Harry's guard for the duration of the tournament I should mention that I checked the chain that was supposed to hold the dragon. It was tampered with, but you already knew that didn't you? I assume Dumbledore told you?" She didn't bother denying it but there was a curious expression in her eyes that I couldn't place.

"Hmm, thanks for confirming it. So, do you want any help with all this?" She indicated the ever growing piles of letters. I think I felt actual tears form as I looked at an angel given form.

"Angels weep in shame for not being as kind and generous as you." Fawkes burst into song and I saw the tiny smile on her face as she sat down opposite from me. Several long, torturous hours later we had made a sizable dent in the paperwork and the inflow of letters had tapered off slightly. Strangely enough, when we finally met up with Harry he wouldn't look either of us in the eye but I didn't bother teasing him about it. Maybe later.

The dining hall fell silent as we entered and I could see the eyes of everyone upon me. I cleared my throat and took a small step forward. "I would like to apologize to everyone that was effected when I flared my power yesterday. I could see no other way to protect my student and you were the ones that paid the price for my actions. I sincerely hope that no one was injured and ask that you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for my actions." I gave a deep bow to the room and held it until I heard the first hints of murmurs before I straightened. With that done I took my customary place on Gryffindor table and the murmuring grew louder but I appeared to ignore it. For the most part it was positive but I noticed that everyone was giving me a good amount of space.

Other than that, the rest of dinner was uneventful although a rather comely seventh year Ravenclaw performed some sort of switching spell with my mash potatoes and some sort of potion. It smelled of cherry blossoms and for some reason it reminded me of Hina. After a moment it came to me. It was the scent of the perfume that Hina wore on our first "date" after the Chunin Exams. Hmm, curious.

I also made an individual apology to Hermione later that night and Madam Maxime tracked me down to repeat her offer to teach at Beauxbaton to which I had deferred making a choice until at least the TriWizard tournament was over with. Oh, I also gained a semi stalker in the form of one Fleur Delacour but other than that everything seems to be turning out okay. It could be better but I'd take what I was given as it could have been a lot worse. Time would tell if what I had done was truly a bad thing or not I suppose.

 **Age: 10 years - 4 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 31 - 5% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,760/1,760**

 **Chakra: 98,192/98,192**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 180(234)**

 **VIT: 176**

 **END: 168**

 **DEX: 190(209)**

 **INT: 202(216)**

 **WIS: 155(165)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 18**

 **Money: 921,402 ryo/ 15,276 galleons**


	38. The Pillar of Hogwarts

**Author's Note: Hello everyone I'm back and obviously still alive. I'm touched that so many of you reached out to me expressing your concern over the lack of a new chapter but I simply didn't have the motivation to write with other things going on. Still it's amazing that the story has broken 2500 followers and 2200 favorites. You're all amazing. Without further ado enjoy the long awaited chapter.**

~Interlude~ Amelia Bones

I irritably rubbed at the bridge of my nose as another wave of paper airplanes swarmed through the door and into my inbox. Ever since the First Task my office had been flooded with complaints about the man who had intimidated a dragon. My eyes drifted over to the Daily Prophet and I watched the man stroll through the air like it was a walk in the park. The people, and the Wizengamot, had all been demanding that the DMLE do something about Shiro. What exactly they wanted us to do was vague though as how they viewed him seemed to swing from the next Dark Lord to Merlin reborn.

My eyes traveled over the repeatedly read article and how people had been knocked unconscious just being near him. My niece Susan had confirmed that particular fact and with that I was inclined to leave Shiro the hell alone unless he actually killed somebody. If he ever resisted arrest… well, it would be a massacre and he was so close to Susan him going on a rampage was an unacceptable risk. I resisted the urge to rub at my forehead as I heard a knock at my door.

"Come in." I called out before I took a sip of my cooling tea. The door opened to reveal Auror Tonks and Dumbledore? What was he doing here? Probably meddling again.

"Wotcher, boss lady." She had the good grace to at least look a bit sheepish at my raised eyebrow. My minion properly cowed I turned towards Dumbledore with an expectant look.

"Good morning Amelia."

I hid my irritation behind a polite smile. Does no one know proper decorum nowadays? "Good morning to the both of you. What brings you to my office this early in the morning?" Please don't ask me to try to arrest Shiro. I don't think I can.

"Oh, er, I have a bunch of letters that need to be checked over and then see if we can find the sender." I motioned her to continue so she did. "They were all for Shiro and most of them are lethal, crippling or magically binding so they need to be handled with care. Shiro even had to stop Harry from touching one because it had a compulsion on it."

My gaze hardened. We probably wouldn't be able to track the senders for all of them but if one of the darker families was stupid enough to do so we could raid their homes to hopefully find something truly incriminating besides the letter. Just getting the people who would send such things off the streets would be helpful. "That explains why you're here but it doesn't explain why you're here Chief Warlock."

"I have some business that I would like to discuss with you. Preferably in private." I noticed Tonks' eyes dart between him and myself.

"That's fine. Auror Tonks, why don't you go begin the process of getting those letters into the evidence locker and the curse breakers started on making them safer."

She gave me a sloppy salute as she stood up. "You got it boss lady." I felt my eyebrow twitch as Tonks left in a hurry leaving just Dumbledore and I alone in the room.

I took another sip of tea and grimaced slightly at how lukewarm it had become. With a small twitch of my wand steam began to faintly rise from it once more. "I assume this isn't related to any Wizengamot business, right? Oh, but where are my manners. Would you like anything to drink?"

Dumbledore stroked his beard for a moment before shaking his head. "Hmm, not at this time thank you. Instead I would like to talk about the young man that has been in the news recently." My cup made a small clink as I set it down and repressed a sigh. Of course he came here to talk about the biggest source of my current headaches. I motioned for him to continue. "Yes, well you've seen how many people are reacting to him with dangerous letters, outrage and otherwise malcontent yet at the same time there is an equal group proclaiming him the next Merlin. I'm here simply to see that the reactionary portion of our government doesn't lash out and try to do something we would all regret."

I pondered that for a moment before slowly nodding. He was thinking similar thoughts then. "So all you are asking is that the DMLE not move against him without clear proof of him breaking the law?"

The customary twinkle in his eyes was gone for the moment I noticed. "Exactly. I do not wish to see any of my students harmed as a result of an Auror raid to arrest Shiro and while I do not believe he would purposely do so cornered people are rarely rational." I lowered my hands below my desk and clasped them together so they wouldn't shake. Merlin, Dumbledore doesn't believe the entire DMLE and himself could stop Shiro, just corner him. Even then it might not be enough.

"I see. I'll have to rein in Scrimgeour and the rest of the diehard Aurors but it'll be difficult. I know Scrimgeour has been eyeing my job for a good while and if I outright ignore an order from the Wizengamot or the Minister I'll probably be out of a job."

"Hmm, I believe that I can temper the reaction of the Wizengamot but Cornelius could be difficult. Lucius seems to have more and more influence over him as time goes by." I rolled my eyes at that. I wouldn't be surprised to see Malfoy's hand in the back of our Minister's throat when he talked nowadays.

"What do you recommend then?"

"Stall, if any order for Shiro's unjust arrest comes down from above and perhaps it may be wise if you visited Shiro and explained things to him." I tilted my head as I considered that. I could definitely stall and Fudge was definitely impatient enough to rush forward without proper support so that could work. Then talking with Shiro could lessen the risk to Susan if it does come down to a fight against him.

"I'll consider it. Was there anything else you wanted today?"

"No, no that will be all." He stood up then seemed to pause. "Although I can't help but see that you've acquired more paperwork than usual. Is it related to Shiro?"

"Yes." I said cautiously. "Quite a few of them are related to him."

"I always find that delegating work to those responsible is a worthwhile pursuit." Ha, good one, you always play things as close to the chest as possible although sending off all these small claims to Shiro… I smiled thinly. No wonder they call Dumbledore a genius.

"I might just do that. Have a good day Chief Warlock."

"You as well Amelia." I ignored the familiar tone he used as he left my office. Tapping the large stack of paperwork caused more than half of it to form paper airplanes and fly out of my office towards the Owlery. Ah, it feels good to spread the misery around. I leaned back in my chair as I drained the last of my tea.

~Interlude End~

The last week and a half had been annoying for me. I already knew it was going to be difficult after stopping the dragon from eating Harry but the sheer amount of tedious work that I had to do afterwards was soul crushing. Then there were the stares of everyone no matter where I went and the whispers that they thought I couldn't hear.

I think the worst part of it was the fact that the girls had formed some sort of fan club around honing their stalker tendencies towards me. I let out a sigh. I could deal with the endless letters and poison that was put into my meals. In fact I had fun with that by staring straight at the person who did so as I ate my meal but the giggling and blushing as the school girls ineptly followed me around was draining. It tweaked all my senses into over drive whenever someone tried to follow me and I couldn't stop it from happening. The behavior was just too ingrained to fully stop and I would need it whenever I got back home so I didn't try to dull the response at all. Harry was at least sympathetic to my plight as he had experienced similar actions due to his status as the Boy-Who-Lived.

Other than that I had an odd chat with the director of the DMLE Amelia Bones. It was odd because she tried her hardest to assure me that any and all actions taken by Aurors would be without her support unless I broke the law. Only then would she come herself so that I would know that I had actually broken a law. I had thanked her for her support and that was that. I suppose that she realized the difficulty of trying to arrest me but her superiors where trying to push for my capture. Of course, I had no intention of letting them do so but after a week and a half of nothing I was getting a bit anxious for something to happen.

Regardless, my new found infamy had disrupted Harry's training as a multitude of people would come to watch and sometimes beg for me to teach them as well. I refused them all. I already had all the money and books that I needed at the moment so taking on another student would bring me no benefit and just create more work for me as other people would clamor to join if I accepted even one of them. So we needed a different place to train Harry and the weather was turning colder so a different location would be preferable anyways.

I talked about using the Chamber of Secrets with Harry while Tonks was gone for a bit but he expressed reluctance to display his Parseltongue abilities to her so I came up with a different solution. For nearly a month now I had been visiting the hidden room that held Hogwart's Pillar. From what I learned through experimentation was that the room itself was a pocket subdimension that didn't have any form until someone entered it. In addition it could show things not of this world as I found out when it replicated Konoha. It was truly a fascinating piece of magic and even though it resembled my ID ability I had no idea how it was created or how to replicate it. Still, I didn't consider it a big deal to reveal the room to both of them.

"So where's the place we're going then?" Harry asked in confusion as I paced back and forth in front of a blank wall. I suppose I had been a bit vague but I didn't answer until a door appeared suddenly making them both jump a bit. "When did that get here?"

"Just now." I replied a bit cheekily as I swung the door open. The familiar scent of Konoha greeted me as I stepped through the door as both Tonks and Harry trailed along behind me.

Tonks let out a low whistle. "Wow it's beautiful here. Where are we?" I turned around and gave them both a low sweeping bow.

"This is a hidden room within the castle that gives form to your desire. I welcome you both to my home village albeit one without people. Normally it would be impossible for outsiders to come here but since this is merely a memory given form it's fine." I took in their reactions as I straightened. Both of them were taking in the view although Tonks looked like she was doing it more intently than Harry was. Since I was 99% sure she was either coerced or willingly passed information along to others about me I was counting on her to pass this memory along and send them on a wild goose chase for a good while.

"Wait, is this like a pensieve then?"

I shrugged. "Not really. The room just forms what you want. If I wanted a tropical island with a great beach it would form that instead." That was another thing I had tested out. Of course there were limits. Although it seemed like the room could replicate Konoha it was decidedly untrue. The spatial limits of the room only extended a bit farther than the wall around Konoha. If you tried to go past that point you would simply hit an invisible wall.

"Damn. If I had known about this as a student it would have been amazing." Tonks trailed off as she seemed to get lost in her thoughts before suddenly snapping out of her daze. "How did you even find this place?"

"Hogwart's magic led me here." A small smile crept onto my face when she snorted in disbelief. It was always fun when the truth was so outrageous that people didn't believe you although Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Who are the people whose faces are carved into the mountain?" Harry asked.

"Hmm, oh those? They're the leaders of the village. All the way on the left is the founder of the village and all the way on the right is the current leader of the village, Minato. He's also my father." I said the last part in an almost lackadaisical manner while keeping a close eye on Tonks. As expected her eyes light up for a moment before settling onto polite interest.

"Wait, really? Why didn't you tell me this before?" I gave Harry a lazy shrug.

"You never asked and I didn't really have any reason to brag about it." There was a faint blush that formed from my gentle rebuke but I ignored it as I clapped my hands together. "Do you guys want a tour?" The next several hours were spent showing them to all the sights of Konoha before we exited the room and changed the setting to a sandy beach.

"I really wish I had known about this place when I was a student." I heard Tonks mutter over the sound of lapping waves.

"I'm sure everybody wants a shapeshifting room, but we came here to get away from the stalkers and the rabble that seems to follow us everywhere nowadays. From now on this will be our training area. It's nice and running on the sand will help build up stamina." Time for a training montage a small portion of my brain whispered to me as we began our now familiar routine. I have to say that Harry hasn't disappointed me so far. He's been admirably committed to growing stronger and I might show him how to Tree and Water walk if his growth continues at this rate if only to see whether he can actually do them or not.

Later that night I slipped back into the room where the Pillar of Hogwarts stood and slowly walked towards it. The Pillar basically radiated excitement and I could understand why. If I was trapped and my freedom was imminent I would be excited too. Now there are just a few things left to verify.

I stopped short of the pillar before I spoke. "Hello again." Of course the Pillar didn't respond with words but the excitement spiked and I let out a small laugh. "Yes, yes I know. I'm almost ready to free you but before I do I need to know one thing." A wave a caution flew out but that was to be expected. "All I want to know is what you truly are. I don't want to release a demon on accident after all."

There was a long pause and I almost thought it would refuse before a creak to my right drew my attention. A small desk and chair had appeared with a slim, ancient looking book on top of the desk. I sat down in the offered chair as I carefully opened the book. Even though I was being as careful as possible the binding of the book fell apart leaving me with free floating parchment. That wasn't very important to me. What was important was the name inscribed on the inside of the cover, Rowena Ravenclaw. A personal journal from one of the founders of Hogwarts. I'm sure everyone would go insane if word ever got out about it. With the utmost carefulness, I collected the pages and began to read through them. For some reason, I felt the need to read out loud.

"It is with heavy heart that I scribe my thoughts upon this journal. My three friends, no, my family and I have achieved what was once thought impossible. We have taken the first step towards a new age where magical knowledge is no longer hoarded and jealously guarded as it is passed down from Master to Apprentice. We have brought so many young witches and wizards together to spread and indeed discover the joys and perils of magic. If only we could be left in peace to teach young minds I would be content but, alas, it seems that our success has drawn the jealous gaze of others." I paused to flip the page over.

"The Vikings, vicious barbarians that they are, have been especially tiring as year after year their shamans attack us in order to plunder the magical knowledge that we have carefully gathered. They are just one of many though and I fear for our legacy when we are gone. Even now our enemies grow more bold as my family and I begin to show our age. Godric, for all of his boasting, feels old age's grasp the most of all us. War is a young man's game and the wounds taken in his youth now show their true toll on his body. To this end I have decided that Hogwarts need a protector. I just need to figure out how to make one." The next several pages were full of equations and ritualistic diagrams before the writing picked up again.

"I believe I have a solution yet it comes far too late for my beloved sister Helga. She was just one of the many casualties in these ever increasing raids and I morn for her along with Godric and Salazar. Now, more than ever, the need for a Protector is clear. I need to hurry, but I keep my research from everyone else. I do not believe they would approve of my methods or what must be sacrificed to protect us all." There were more equations until the writing resumed although it was jerky as though she was writing while emotionally charged.

"I have done the deed, monstrous as it is. Three children of the Fae, three children of man and three magical children. The Fae for their agelessness, the magical children for strength and children of man to bind the two. Each was ritualistically drowned in dragon's blood and their soul's torn asunder to be reformed within the pillar I have prepared." My gaze drifted over to the Pillar which didn't let out any emotion for me to sense. When it didn't do anything for a while I resumed reading. "I, I do believe that some form of punishment will await me when I die for what I have done yet if it protects our legacy then I shall gladly suffer my fate. Hogwarts has its Protector and they shall stand guard against all its enemies until the last stone falls." There was nothing else contained within the book and I set it to the side as I turned to face the Pillar.

Rowena's actions would be condemned in this modern age, and probably back then as well, but it had seemed necessary at the time. Was there some other way to protect Hogwarts? Perhaps, but I couldn't judge her. I had done far worse in my service to Konoha. "Well," I said idly, "that's a tragic, if interesting, backstory. It certainly trumps most other sob stories I've heard before." The being in the Pillar didn't seem amused but I continued on regardless. "I'm not saying that it wasn't tragic what happened to you at your birth just that it was more interesting than most other backstories I've heard. It gets a bit tiring to hear about another person set on vengeance after their brother/sister/mom/dad were killed. I've met more than a few people like that and it's always me, me, me, oh woe is me. Why can no one understand how tragic my life is even though I push everyone away? Then even if they do succeed in having their vengeance they usually fall apart because their life revolved around getting revenge and they don't know how to live without it being part of their life anymore."

While I was talking my hands were blurring as I inscribed rune after rune around the Pillar. There was a surge of amusement from the Pillar. It would seem that my attempt to dissuade them if they had any thoughts of vengeance were seen through. Oh well. If their revenge didn't affect me or Harry I really didn't care. I finished the last rune and stepped back to look over everything with a critical eye. Everything looked good so I took out a small stone and set it on the focal point of my work.

The blood runes on the Pillar were devious in their nature. They could only be released by the original creator without creating a cascade failure that would inevitably lead to the being in the Pillar's demise. Therefore, I had no intention of trying to break the blood runes but transferring them to another inconsequential item, hence the stone.

I bit my finger hard enough for it to bleed and drew a thin trail that connected my array to the blood array. I let out a small breath as nothing exploded and slowly started to pump chakra into my array. It lit up as my chakra flowed through it but I didn't pay it much mind. All of my attention was on the blood array as it began to squirm like it was alive. Slowly, ever so slowly, the blood runes began to creep down the Pillar and onto the stone where they were condensed. The process was purposely slow so I could react to any changes but after three hours the blood runes had been successfully transferred to the stone and my array died down, its purpose fulfilled.

I leaned back as a surge of magic rushed outwards from the Pillar causing my hair and clothes to billow away from it. Just as suddenly as it began the surge stopped before a gentler pulse of magic billowed out of it and a woman appeared standing next to the Pillar. I suppose people would call her beautiful yet her beauty had an otherworldly quality to it. Her hair color just a bit too golden to be natural, her skin almost had a luster to it as though it was almost glowing from an inner light and her sapphire eyes held a weight to them that I could only attribute to seeing centuries pass by. Her figure was also willowy, but strong, and covered by a yellow summer dress.

"After 400 years I'm finally free to form a physical body once more." She closed her eyes as she took a large breath. As she released her breath in a content sigh her eyes snapped open and focused on me. "There are no words I know that express just how thankful I am." As she spoke she strode close enough to me to reach out and run her hand along my cheek. The action almost seemed to make her giddy. "I had almost forgotten how it felt to touch another person, but I'm not really touching you am I? Perhaps it's presumptuous of me but I would greatly desire to see the true face of my savior."

She knows? How does she… Oh. "You can see everything that happens in this castle can't you?"

"Yes, and just a bit past the furthest ward." Her smile was kind and caring as she ran her hands through my hair. "I've seen how you arrived to this world, how you create copies of yourself and how you hold Rita Skeeter prisoner in her Animagus form. None of that matters to me. All I see before me is my savior from my prison. I would never reveal that to any other person unless you try to harm the people who reside within Hogwarts."

This was not good. I didn't detect any hint of a lie in her actions but her body seemed similar to a clone or in more technical terms, a physical manifestation being remote controlled by the woman's soul which still resided in the Pillar. Therefore she might have complete control over the body and not reveal any ticks that would indicate that she was lying. After a brief pause I decided to accede to her request and dropped my henge. Doing this wouldn't matter much when she had so much information on me and it would show a certain willingness to cooperate, at least for now.

"So cute." I heard her mummer as her eyes seemed to flash. I had to hold back a snort. No one but Kushina and maybe Saiko on a good day called me cute. To everyone else I was simply deadly. "Ah, but where are my manners. People usually call me Lady Hogwarts but you can call me Eli." She performed a curtsy before she began to run her fingers through my hair again while giggling slightly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Eli." I ignored the sensation of her fingers on my scalp for the moment. I could completely understand the desire to reaffirm your senses after a prolonged absence. When I had first completed the Chakra Sensor course I had almost subconsciously kept rubbing my hands along my clothes just to reassure myself that my sense of touch had returned. "Do you have any misgivings about me keeping Rita prisoner? I mean you were created to protect Hogwarts and its inhabitants and she was definitely a student here once." I tried to test the waters with Eli. If she was against it I would simply bring Rita far away from the castle and dispose of her as I still hadn't found a use for her yet.

"Rita? Yes, she was once a student here and I do love each and every student that sets foot within these halls as soon as they graduate my love fades away." Eli's smile gave her an almost ethereal quality but the smile quickly turned into a frown. "In addition she has brought harm to my precious students when her articles viciously attacked their families. Torture her, kill her, it matters not to me. Her actions have made her an enemy of Hogwarts and my ire must be satisfied. Speaking of ire though."

She slightly turned away from me and a wall with a painting of a man appeared. The dark hair man was reading a book but when Eli cleared her throat he glanced up and his eyes widened in shock.

"Eli!"

"Don't call me that! You lost that right when you sealed me away!" I tilted my head as the two started shouting at each other. This painting… it feels just like Voldemort's soul before it was destroyed. What kind of messed up world have I come to where people keep mutilating their souls? Besides that, was it a good thing or bad thing that Eli was so indifferent to Rita's fate?

"How?" The man shouted. "How did you escape?" I felt Eli's hand land on the top of my head which drew my attention back into the conversation.

"I found a hero. He's much better then you will ever be Alexander. In fact, I'm thinking of making him my personal champion. I think we would look good together with our silver and gold hair." His gaze swung towards me for the first time and I saw the deep pool of hatred and jealousy that swam in his eyes.

"Impossible! Eli is mine you brat. You can't have her. She's mine! All mine! No is even allowed to look upon her beauty but me." Spittle flew from his mouth as he yelled.

I frowned at the obviously deranged man in the painting. I wonder if splitting your soul causes mental instability? "She's a person. Not a thing that you can possess." Eli's smile was radiant as she turned her attention back towards Alexander and a flame appeared at her finger tips. I took a half step away from her because the flames felt unnaturally hungry.

Alexander's eyes only had time to widen before the flame connected with the painting and he began to scream. I watched on with a certain sense of interest as I felt the flames literally burn his soul to nothing before Eli enforced her will on the flames causing them to extinguish themselves. "Ah, that felt so damn good. Serves the bastard right."

I wanted to learn it. I held my hand out in front of me and concentrated on how I felt Eli weave her magic.

 **Ding!**

 **Learned Fiendfyre(Active (1000(565) initial cost + 500(265)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Fiendfyre is a flame of abnormal size and heat. The flames are capable of seeking out living targets despite being non-sentient. This curse is very advanced dark magic, capable of burning everything to dust, and is also very difficult to control once unleashed. Many a practitioner has found themselves consumed by their own summoned flames.**

 **Increases control by 10%**

"That's a very dangerous skill you've just learned." Eli's voice drew my attention away from the small flame flickering over my palm. With an effort of will the flame disappeared and I flexed my hand. For some reason the flame seemed to take the shape of different animals.

"Maybe you shouldn't use such dangerous skills in front of impressionable youths then. You never know what they might pick up." I stated drolly. Eli's laughter was like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. Refreshing, but also leaving you chilled. "Will that be last we see of Alexander?"

"Hmm, yes. The Big Book of Names records every students name that has ever graced these halls. Once I eradicated a portion of his soul his name was crossed out meaning he's gone forever."

My brow furrowed in thought. "But it was only a portion of his soul. What about the other portion?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Already passed on for one reason or another. A horcrux will indeed allow someone to live as long as it is not destroyed but that is only for the soul. The flesh has no such protection and will eventually decay leaving the soul portion free floating. Then the splintered soul must continually possess other living creatures to continue existing. If it does not it will lose power and disperse into an uncountable amount of pieces that are neither dead nor alive. It will remain this way until their horcrux is destroyed and dies a true death."

I hummed in thought. "It sounds like you've personally seen this happen and not something you've read."

"I have seen it happen." She admitted. "The world was a much more wild place back then and wizards needed ever advantage they could get. If that meant splitting their soul or creating something like me then so be it."

"You must have seen amazing things."

"Amazing and terrible yet I am stuck in this little corner of the world." A period of silence fell between us before Eli started running her fingers through my hair again.

"So what will you do now that you're free and have had your revenge on the one who imprisoned you?"

"I will resume my role as the Protector of Hogwarts. There is a disturbingly large Acromantula nest within the forest that must be destroyed and then there are a few more things within Hogwarts that must be taken care of."

I pondered for only a moment before coming to a decision. It would be a good decision to be on the good side of lady who can see everything within a few miles radius and can control fire that burns the soul. "If you tell me what the other things are I may be willing to help. On the other hand destroying the Acromantula nest is something I'm willing to help with."

A pout appeared on Eli's face. "I'm already in your debt and you want to increase the amount even more. If this continues am I going to have to pay you back with my body?"

"I'm fine with knowledge." I said, instantly rejecting her question. "Besides I'm only 10."

A weird look appeared in her eyes as she patted my cheek. "Sure you are." Before I could parse out that statement a silver diadem appeared on a table near me and my attention was drawn towards it because I could feel the soul residing in it.

"Voldemort created another horcrux? Damn, that's three already. How many of these things did he leave around?"

"Probably quite a few of them if three of them could be found so easily. This is one of the things I need to take care of but if you want to help me out by destroying it that would be great." I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. After her previous display I knew she could destroy these things so the question was, what was her angle? Regardless I summoned the unholy flames to my hand and a roar rose from the flames as it formed a dragon that engulfed the diadem completely. When I felt it completely consume the soul within I forced the flames to subside. Even though the skill description said that Fiendfyre was hard to control it still surprised me how much effort it took to extinguish, and control, the relatively small blaze that I had summoned. I suppose it's a useful skill but it needs a ton of work before I would ever use it in a fight.

"So you truly did learn it after only seeing it once." I glanced back to Eli and slightly nodded. So a test to see the extent of my control and my learning speed. There might have been even more to the request but I couldn't see it at the time. A person who has lived for a thousand years wouldn't be simple and with a third of her soul not human in origin who knows how she perceives the world.

"I've always learned new things extremely fast. I also know people who can learn things just as fast though." I said as humbly as possible. "Do you still need help with the spiders?"

She seemed to think about it for a moment before shrugging and a door appeared on a wall. "Why not? It'll be nice to have company after so long." She motioned towards the door and we began walking towards it.

"I hope that you don't mind me putting my disguise back on."

"No, no I understand." I reapplied my henge as she opened the door and stepped through. As soon as I did so I couldn't help but notice that we had stepped out of a tree near the edge of the forest. I turned back just in time to see the doorway fade away as though it was never there at all. I couldn't even detect any magic so either it was hidden so skillfully that I couldn't detect it or the doorway was similar to a gateway that could be used to move between two points instantly. Apparition and Portkeys, which I had learned how to do a few days ago, were similar in theory but not application. If I could learn how to create the gateways and the magical room with the Pillar releasing Eli would be worth it even with the headache she was causing me by knowing so much about me.

A slight sound made me turn around to see Eli with her arms spread wide as her feet curled and uncurled on the cold, wet grass. With a coy smile on her face she spun around to face me and extended her arm. "A gentleman such as yourself should know how to conduct himself during a stroll through the forest." I snorted lightly but hooked my left arm with her right one as we began walking deeper into the forest. Ever since I've met Eli I've fallen into her pace haven't I?

The forest itself was even cooler then the edge of the forest was and I couldn't help but notice Eli shiver. How that worked when she was simply piloting a body made through magic I had no idea. "Are you okay? You're shivering quite a bit."

"Oh, you noticed? It's nothing I'm just so excited." Excited for what? The genocide we were about to commit on the spiders? Being free for the first time in 400 years? Something else? In the end I didn't ask and instead sent a wind blade off to the side causing a spider that was going to ambush us to split in half. "Nice catch." She said with a pout. "I thought I was going to have to save us and then I could hear you praise me."

I rolled my eyes as we continued past the cooling corpse. "How many spiders are there anyways?"

"634 the size of the one you just killed, 12 elder spiders and the patriarch."

I whistled lowly. "That is a lot of dog sized spiders. What do they even eat?"

"Everything that has a pulse really. They've already eaten pretty much everything within their territory and their hunger has caused them to try expanding into the centaur's territory along with causing them to resort to cannibalism."

I tilted my head at the sound of soft clopping coming from our left. Both of us turned in time to see a group of centaurs emerge from the trees. All of them carried weapons but none of them were pointed anywhere near us. One of them with white blonde hair stepped forward and began to speak. "Why have you come to the forest when the light of Mars bleeds from the sky?"

"We are here to take care of a spider infestation." Eli replied. The centaurs near the back shuffled awkwardly at the sound of her voice and I saw their leader focus his attention on me.

"You walk with One-Who-Casts-a-Shadow-Over-the-Stars, Lady Hogwarts. His arrival has clouded our visions of the future."

"Really? I mean I've been called Heartless before, kind of an inside joke, but it's my first time receiving a hyphenated name." I thought being able to see the future they would at least foresee my arrival.

"Yes. Only Mars has pierced the veil of your arrival." The centaur looked to the sky before stomping his hooves a few times. "We shall help you in your endeavor tonight. The spiders have grown bold of late and they threaten our tribe. We shall skirmish along their edges to draw pressure off of you when you begin your assault." With that he spun away along with the rest of the centaurs and disappeared into the forest.

"Well," I began after they were far enough away to not hear us. "He was a bit blunt."

"Centaurs are either extremely blunt or horribly cryptic. Luckily Firenze was blunt with us this time."

"Hmm, how did they know you were Lady Hogwarts anyway?"

"I," a confused expression appeared on her face, "don't quite know. Alexander did more than just seal me. He cast a spell that would seal all knowledge of me away and cast a forget me charm as well so that even if someone did discover me they would forget all about it shortly thereafter. With his true death the spells are fading but they still have power."

"Hmm, food for thought I suppose. Anyways have you noticed that we seem to be surrounded." As I said this a half sphere of lightning surrounded us causing the first few spiders that jumped at us to be electrocuted. Their screams were oddly human like and I felt them die as they fell to the ground twitching.

Eli seemed to be looking at my Lightning Wall technique curiously. "I see you're handling the defense like a true gentleman so I'll handle the offense." She waved her hand and the forest seemed to come alive as it attacked the surrounding spiders. As soon as she was done she leaned against me and let out a sigh. "I'm out of practice if something like this tires me." I looked over the battlefield where the spiders were struggling almost pitifully against the attacking forest.

"A mass animation charm, very nice, but don't count me out just yet. I can still attack while defending. How do you feel about fire?"

"Please don't. Fire has its uses but I want to make a dress out of their webs. Acromantula silk is one of the softest materials in the world and it's also slightly magic resistant as well."

"… Is this your version of clothes shopping?" I asked incredulously as hundreds then thousands of lightning senbon flew unerringly into the surrounding spiders piercing them easily.

"Noooo~"

"It would be a lot more convincing if you weren't looking anywhere but me when you said that." We started to walk through the field of dying and dead spiders. That was what the next couple of hours was like. We would seemingly wander around and encounter groups of spiders that would be quickly dispatched before we would move on. Sometimes we would come across dead spiders that had obviously been killed by the centaurs but that was infrequent.

Finally, we came to what be the main nest. Less than 12 dog sized spiders remained to guard the 5 elders and 1 patriarch. The patriarch was the size of a small elephant and made a clicking sound as we approached. "Why have you attacked us and killed my children?" The giant spider can talk? Why am I not surprised?

"Your web has grown too strong and your numbers too numerous to let be." Eli responded. Oh, was it actually talking in English? It was, how odd.

"We have never attacked a human."

"Pull the other leg you're not fooling anyone. I see all that happens on these grounds and while you do not actively hunt humans you still attack them if they come near. Plus I know you were losing control over your children as you age. If you died they would attack indiscriminately."

The giant spider stilled for a moment. "If we promise to leave these lands will we be allowed to leave unharmed?"

Eli shook her head. "Why would I leave an enemy alive to gather their strength for revenge?"

"Then die!" The spider screamed as it lunged at us along with the other spiders. They were met with a wall of crystal but instead of simply running over it they seemed to freeze once they touched it. "What cursed magic is this?" The patriarch cried as the crystal steadily spread up his legs along with all the other trapped spiders.

"Does it really matter? You're going to die anyways." I asked blandly. He gave a wordless shriek of rage before the crystal enveloped his head. Once every spider was fully encased I shattered the crystal into millions of tiny pieces. "Was that the last of them?"

"Yep. This was a pretty full night wasn't it? You freed me from my prison, we burned the souls of our enemies, took a moonlit stroll through the woods, exterminated an overgrown spiders nest and got me enough silk to make a hundred dresses." She giggled and gave me a kiss on my cheek. "It was an excellent first date. Next time I want to go with the real you and not a clone though. See you soon." With that she slipped her arm out of mine and disappeared.

'What just happened?' I thought numbly as the real me dropped down from a tree. "So she knew." I heard myself mumble. "Go ahead and dispel yourself." Gladly, trying to figure out women is far too difficult. I'll leave that to the real me.

I watched my clone explode into smoke and let the familiar sensation of memories rushing into my head envelope me. Once it was done I glanced around at the remains of the spider nest. When Eli disappeared, she had taken about half of the spider silk with her so I guess the remainder was a thank you present to me. With a put-upon sigh I went about gathering the rest of the silk getting enough for maybe 50 complete outfits. With that done I slowly made my way out of the forest and back to the castle. Tonight had been very eventful and I needed time to process everything.

Several hours later I stood outside the entrance to my room staring at Hermione who was dressed in workout clothes and a stubborn expression on her face. "I want to join Harry when you teach him." Was that a headache coming on. Yep, it seems like it was.

 **Age: 10 years - 5 months**

 **Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage**

 **LVL: 31 - 8% to next LVL**

 **HP: 1,760/1,760**

 **Chakra: 98,192/98,192**

 **Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth**

 **Bloodline: Crystal Release**

 **STR: 180(234)**

 **VIT: 176**

 **END: 168**

 **DEX: 190(209)**

 **INT: 202(216)**

 **WIS: 155 - 156(167)**

 **LCK: 50**

 **Points: 18**

 **Money: 921,402 ryo/ 15,276 galleons**

 **Skills Learned:**

 **Fiendfyre(Active (1000(565) initial cost + 500(265)/min)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Fiendfyre is a flame of abnormal size and heat. The flames are capable of seeking out living targets despite being non-sentient. This curse is very advanced dark magic, capable of burning everything to dust, and is also very difficult to control once unleashed. Many a practitioner has found themselves consumed by their own summoned flames.**

 **Increases control by 10%**

 **Apparition (Active 500(375)) LVL 1 – 0%**

 **Apparition is a magical method of transportation. It is basically the magical action of traveling by having the user focus on a desired location in their mind. After the user is properly focused they then disappear from their current location and instantly reappear at the desired location. In short, apparition is a form of teleportation. It is by far the fastest way to get to one's desired destination, but is tricky to pull off correctly and disastrous if botched up.**

 **Decreases splinching chance by 10%**

 **Range of 300 miles**

 **Portkey( Active 500(375)) LVL 1 – 0 %**

 **A portkey is an object enchanted to instantly bring anyone touching it to a specific location. Traveling by portkey is said to feel like having a "hook somewhere behind the navel" as it pulls you to its destination.**

 **Decreases splinching chance by 10%**

 **Range of 1000 miles**

 **Skills increased**

 **Occlumency 5 - 7**

 **Legilimency 1 - 3**

 **Dark Arts Mastery 8 - 10**

 **Transfiguration 8 - 10**

 **Charms 8 - 10**


End file.
